HARARE: During the week ending October 2, average deposit rates for savings, one month and three-month tenors remained unchanged at 3%; 8,14% and 9,14% per annum respectively.
Weighted lending rates for individuals and corporate clients at commercial banks closed at 11,56% and 8,39% per annum respectively during the week under review.
Transactions processed through the National Payment Systems (NPS) amounted to US$1 122,43 million, a 6% increase from the previous week. Transactions processed through the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system increased from US$882,92m in the previous week, to US$898,28m. In terms of proportions, RTGS payments accounted for 80,03% of the total value of transactions processed through the NPS, followed by mobile transactions, 10,03%; automated teller machines (ATMs), 6,52%; point of sale, 3,13% and cheque transactions, 0,29%.
Mobile-based transactions accounted for 89,16% of total transactions, in volume terms, followed by POS, 5,39%; ATMs, 4,63%; RTGS, 0,70%; and cheque, 0,13%.
During the week under review, the international commodity prices for gold, platinum, copper and crude oil registered declines, while the price of nickel firmed.
Gold prices declined by 1% from a weekly average of US$1 135,94 per ounce in the previous week, to close at US$1 124,21/oz. The decline in gold prices was largely due to selling pressures by traders.
Platinum prices registered a 3,90% decline from US$950/oz to a weekly average of US$913/oz. This was attributable to a reduction in production of diesel automobiles, following reports that Volkswagen had altered diesel engines to artificially generate low emissions during testing. As a result, this raised environmental pollution concerns associated with diesel cars.
Copper prices continued on a downward trend declining by 1,5% to close at US$5 091,10 per tonne. The strengthening of the US dollar, coupled with faltering global demand, particularly in China, contributed to the downward pressure on copper prices.
