Bond note weakens as government opens up imports

The Bond note which had been appreciating against the United States dollar ended the week lower as the government relaxed restrictions on imports to allow people to bring in basic commodities which were no longer available on the local market.

There has been panic buying since the government reintroduced foreign currency accounts sending signals that the electronic dollar and the bond note were no longer at par with the United States dollar though the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe insisted that they were trading at par.

Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has approached Afreximbank to guarantee the exchange rate and agreement was expected to be reached before the end of this month.

According to market watcher, Zimbollar, the RTGS was trading at 3.05 to the US dollar and the bond note at 3.

Zimbollar says the market rate which had been falling has been reversed as people look for foreign currency to buy commodities following the lifting of restrictions on imports this week.

The Old Mutual Implied Rate (OMIR) which is for heavier trades, however, continued slide ending the week at 4.0555.

It peaked two weeks ago at 8.9338.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has vowed to deal with cash barons who are reportedly playing havoc with the market.

So far 107 foreign currency dealers have been arrested but these are the peripheral players. The big fish are said to be politically connected and have not yet been touched.

Four senior officials at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe have been suspended pending investigations into foreign currency dealings.

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