THE ZIMBABWE National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) says by
introducing a separate account for foreign currency through the monetary policy
statement yesterday, the central bank has finally de-dollarised the economy.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya announced
the split of existing foreign currency accounts (FCAs) into two: an account for
foreign currency transaction (nostro FCAs) and another for local bond notes and
RTGS (real time gross settlement) transactions.
ZNCC chief executive officer Christopher Mugaga said the
measures showed that Mangudya had finally accepted that the US dollar and the
bond notes were not at par.
“It was quasi de-dollarisaion if you look at what he did.
He separated nostros and RTGS,” Mugaga said.
“My question is: how is he going to operationalise the two
if the rate is 1 as to 1? It’s a defacto de-dollarisation. He did it by testing
the waters with one leg knowing that it might be too risky to throw them in at
once,” he said.
“The advantage of what he did is that it can allow him to
put effort on the RTGS, especially the issue of broad money. Remember, he is
dealing with unproductive money. If you look at it, broad money supply grew by
43% year-on-year because we are creating money which does not correlate with
economic growth.”
Mugaga applauded Mangudya for introducing the auctioning
system for the Treasury Bills (TBs), adding this would resolve the issue of
superficial bank profits.
“This will self-correct the income statements of banks.
Total profit will be wiped away. The auction system will reflect the risk value
of TBs because they are a risk asset,” he said.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries president Sifelani
Jabangwe said the proposed US$500 million facility over and above other facilities
would help in nostro stabilisation.
“We are just analysing it, but I think the challenge has
been acknowledged. The key issue of nostro stabilisation will help us to move
from the forex problem. The separation of FCA will help exporters to retain their
foreign currency,” Jabangwe said.
He said the introduction of statutory reserves at a level
of 5% on RTGS FCAs on a weekly basis would help reduce the amount of liquidity
in circulation and bring down the exchange rate.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers president Denford
Mutashu also said the separation of FCA accounts would attract US dollar
deposits in the economy.
“It means that everyone who has been stashing money under
their pillows they can now deposit it in their bank accounts knowing that they
can get it. This will create confidence in the economy. It will have a positive
bearing on bank deposits,” Mutashu said. Newsday
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