Why are Zimbabweans with free funds looking for Zimdollars when they need US dollars to import, Minister asks?

Hon. Moyo – what is the Ministry doing in terms of enforcement of SI 127 and how many abusers have been arrested and how much has been raised.  This I am sure I have covered.  In terms of what we are doing as a Ministry, we have sent out the designated officers on the ground.  I can report that on Wednesday, we sent out officers and we came up with a long list of corporates that have abused SI 127. As of yesterday, we had started issuing tickets.  At the moment I do not have the exact number.  However, I can go and get the full list from FIU though we have already started issuing tickets.       In terms of how much have been raised, again, I would need to get the exact figures from FIU.

Hon. Mpariwa – what are the monitoring mechanisms put in place to safeguard against abuse. I am sure I had also responded to this question. The safeguards, as I have said, we have got the civil and administrative penalties.  In additions to that especially if you are looking at abuse of forex that is obtained from the auction markets, there is going to be total ban, not only for the clients but we are also taking the blame to the banks.  It is the banks that go to the auction on behalf of their clients.  Banks should be able to do enough due diligence, they should conduct ‘know your client’ process in order to make sure that those who are going to receive foreign currency are the ones who are going to properly use the foreign currency for production purposes.

Hon. Watson said in the terms of the current provisions as provided for by the RBZ, exporters are getting 40% of their forex.  I think it is the other way round.  Exporters are getting 60% and then 40% is the one that is liquidated to Zimbabwean dollar.  Every economy is supposed to function.  The money that you generate as an exporter is probably the money that is supposed to be used at the auction in order to assist the production processes.  So, I think it is a question of making sure that the economy is functional.

However, obviously, as we do more production, these rates in terms of the ration between forex component and the ZWL component will continue to be reviewed.  In Zimbabwe we are doing things far much better than what is happening in the region because if you check in other countries, you liquidate everything within 30 days.   In Zimbabwe we are saying liquidation is now unlimited and then we get the 40% which we then use at the auction.

Another question came from Hon. Mavetera that what is the barometer that we are using in allocating forex and who benefits.  I would want to mention to the Hon. Member that what is guiding us as a country at the moment is the National Development Strategy 1.  The NDS has got 14 priorities and what is critical for Zimbabwe at the moment, if you check the pillar on macro-economic development, it speaks to production.  You look at the pillar on infrastructure development and utilities. These are the pillars that are guiding us in terms of how we allocate forex. For a country to move forward, what is critical is production. We do not prioritise consumption. If you check our list, you will see that the allocations are biased towards production. So the barometer is the application and request for foreign currency for production. As long as it is for production, those are the applicants who are getting priority. This is what we do and we have got a priority list which we use and we are focusing on production.

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