Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya
Since the southern African country introduced its local surrogacy currency, the bond note, in 2016, it had pegged it at a ratio of 1:1 with the US dollar, but this did not last for long, as foreign currency shortages on the formal market resulted in parallel market rates spiraling to unsustainable levels.
He said with effect from Monday next week Zimbabwe, would abide by an official exchange rate and market forces, through banks would determine the exchange rate.
The rate will open at 1:2.50, as per agreement with foreign currency dealers in the banks, said Mangudya.
To stabilise the market, Mangudya said the RBZ would arrange foreign lines of credit, since demand would be greater than the supply of foreign currency.
“We need to cloud seed the market with foreign currency,” he said.
Before the new foreign currency management measures, gold miners were surrendering 70% of their export earnings and tobacco farmers 80%, while manufacturers and tourism were keeping 100% of their earnings.
Platinum and chrome miners were surrendering 80% of their export earnings “to ensure effective administration of foreign exchange”.
In exchange for the foreign currency, the central bank would pay the exporter using Real Time Gross Settlement, crediting the exporter’s account with local currency at parity.
This caused distortions on the market, with some exporters, such as listed gold miner RioZim, threatening to shut down operations if the foreign currency disparities were not addressed.
Post published in: Business