A volatile foreign exchange crisis that began earlier in
the week, yesterday subsided with rates coming down to $16, by last night,
after peaking at $25 to the US dollar by Thursday.
The sharp rise in the exchange rate and an inexplicable
rout of the local unit caused a spike in prices of goods and services as most
traders claim they peg prices against the US dollar.
Both Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor
Mthuli Ncube and his permanent secretary Mr George Guvamatanga could not be
reached for comment last night on what triggered the volatility in exchange
rates, as they were not picking their mobile phones, amid wide speculation on
social media and on street corners.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Deputy Governor Dr Kupukile
Mlambo was also not answering his phone.
However, the market was awash with rumours that the RBZ had
cracked the whip on bureaux de change and firms, thought to be fuelling the
runaway exchange rate. A statement purportedly from the RBZ circulated widely
on social media yesterday suggesting the apex bank had moved to freeze the
accounts of some companies.
The Herald could not immediately verify the authenticity of
the correspondence directed to banks.
Economic commentator Mr Langton Mabhanga told The Herald
last night that the precipitous decline in parallel market forex rates
yesterday could have been caused by the RBZ’s intervention.
“I think the RBZ stepped in to tame the jungle and instil
discipline in the market,” said Mr Mabhanga.
University of Zimbabwe (UZ) economics lecturer Mr Tamuka
Joel Mukura suggested that whoever was feeding onto the market could have
bought enough US dollars, hence the decline in rates.
He said “speculation” that some companies were buying money
to import raw materials ahead of the 2019-2020 agriculture season could have
pushed up the rate.
Mr Mabhanga suggested the recent spike in parallel market
rates, since the introduction of a single currency, “can be explained at two
levels”.
“At a strategic level, this may signify the turn of the
Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP) curve,” said Mr Mabhanga.
“The economy could now be begging for a successor programme
that ramps the economy from transition to growth, with particular focus on
mining and agricultural production, from artisanal or village level to
commercial scale, respectively.
“These will hasten prospects for an export-led economy.
Meanwhile, we need to continue to leverage the gains of the TSP for an
impeachable springboard to growth mode.”
Mr Mabhanga said while there could need for closer
collaboration and correlation with the Bretton woods institutions, the World
Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and related global financiers, the
future must be concentrated with “more inward looking resource exploitative
strategies and home grown policies that place at the core internal resource
mobilisation”.
Mr Mabhanga said the second level was the operational level
of ensuring discipline, consistency and all market elements working together to
ensure urgent stabilisation of the mono-currency. Herald
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