BANK OF ZAMBIA PAYS OUT FOREIGN CURRENCY ARREARS

  The Bank of Zambia has paid out foreign
  exchange arrears from three auctions conducted last year, a
  bank spokesman said.
      "We have now cleared three auctions and are left with only
  four, worth eight mln dlrs," the spokesman said without
  specifying the amount paid out.
      The bank had not paid foreign exchange to private firms
  since it suspended the weekly auctions on January 28.
      It has said the auctions were suspended because it planned
  to introduce a modified system after talks with the World Bank
  and the International Monetary Fund.
      President Kenneth Kaunda announced last month that the
  auction would be retained for allocating foreign exchange to
  approved private sector bidders, but would not be used to
  determine the kwacha's exchange rate.
      Last week, he said the auction had run into trouble because
  of a shortage of foreign exchange.
      The government has fixed the exchange rate at nine kwacha
  per dollar, effectively revaluing the kwacha by 67.7 pct.
  

