LUSAKA - A MONKEY urinated on Zambian President Rupiah Banda as he spoke to reporters outside his State House offices on Wednesday.

'You have urinated on my jacket,' a startled Mr Banda told the monkey, one of many that makes their home in the trees outside his offices.

'I will give this monkey for lunch to Mr Sata,' he joked, referring to opposition leader Michael Sata, who Mr Banda defeated in last year's elections.

Mr Banda devoted much of his second news conference as president to reassuring Zambians over the dramatic economic slowdown resulting from plunging prices for copper, the country's main export.

'Our growth prospects have diminished, such that the projected gross domestic product has now been revised downwards to 4.0 per cent or below. This reduction has implications for the domestic revenues, with both cooperate and income taxes likely to reduce,' Mr Banda said. -- AFP