AlQa'dah 25, 1436, September 09, 2015, SPA -- Zambian President Edgar Lungu said Tuesday that he will "intervene" if the national currency continues falling, as experts say the kwacha is experiencing its worst crisis since independence, according to dpa. "If the market continues misbehaving, I will have no choice but to intervene," Lungu said through his spokesman. The kwacha has dropped 25 per cent this quarter as Africa's second-largest copper producer, after Congo, has been battered by falling copper prices and demand. The government has announced an injection of 120 million dollars into the foreign exchange market, but that will not stabilize the kwacha as long as the key drivers of its fall are not addressed, economist Oliver Saasa said. The depreciation of the Zambian currency has hiked up prices of essential goods and threatens efforts to cut the budget deficit, which is expected to reach nearly 7 per cent in 2015. The southern African country recently cut this year's growth target to 5.8 per cent, from more than 7 per cent.
