Mangudya betrays frustration as cash crisis puzzle eludes him

With no power to change the things that really matter, Mangudya knows he is only being sent out to try and tinker with the ticking time bomb.

Whatever he is tinkering with now, bond notes included, is not solving anything. With no supporting reforms, he is just being sent on a mission to delay the inevitable.

There is the time bomb of the swelling pile of Treasury Bills, which have become a new Zimbabwe-dollar.

He says use of TBs has been “developmental in nature and productive.” However, in the next line, he admits “it is critical, going forward, that an equilibrium position of a sustainable fiscal deficit is ascertained to ensure that TBs do not crowd out foreign exchange in the market.”

The black market rates, which he creatively calls “scarcity premiums”, are a sign of a lack of confidence in the formal system, he admits.

The bond notes were supposed to be a genius move that ends cash shortages and shames critics. But the lines outside banks remain and companies are having to buy critical forex from street dealers.

Another sign of his frustration came when he accused media of not understanding him.

“This year I have said nothing but the truth, but media puts words in my mouth,” he said.

But the media are not misunderstanding him. He just needs to keep it as honest as he has in his latest statement. Instead of all the overconfident bluster we got from him previously, he just needs to state what everyone knows; that he has very little to work with.

The little that he controls – money supply – is just not working, because it is being affected by all the many other things that he does not control.-The Source

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