Top news items in major Zambian media outlets

LUSAKA, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The following are news highlights in Zambia's major media outlets on Monday.

-- Zambia's banking industry last year registered stagnant growth in loans mainly due to the high interest rates on the market.

The country's Central Bank said average nominal lending rates for banks declined to 24.6 percent in December 2017 from 29.2 percent in December the previous year but was still too high to support productive sectors of the economy, resulting in constrained credit growth. (Zambia Daily Mail)

--The Zambian government said it will table pertinent issues affecting trade with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) when the two countries confer during a joint permanent commission meeting later this month. (Times of Zambia)

-- Zambia will this year host the International Reinsurance Conference which was expected to address challenges being faced by sector players in the provision of inclusive growth, an industry player has said.

The ZEP-RE Reinsurance said the conference, slated for November, will bring together over 400 delegates from different parts of the world to chart the way forward for the insurance sector as regards micro insurance products. (Daily Nation) Enditem