Zimbabwe dollar firms to $4 998.84 to the US dollar

The Zimbabwe dollar firmed by more than $250 at yesterday’s auction to land at $4 998.8352 to the United States dollar, continuing its rally against the greenback as the country heads for elections next month.

The local currency has appreciated by nearly $2 000 in the past three  weeks after hitting a low of $6 926.58 on 20 June.

The siege on the Zimbabwe dollar started at the end of May when President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced the date for this year’s elections set for 23 August..

The Zimbabwe dollar averaged $2 577.06 at the 30 May auction.

Yesterday the local currency appreciated to below $5 000 with offers ranging fropm $4 900 to $5 354.

There had been speculation that the currency would settle around $5 000 but it seems to correction will go further.

Finance secretary George Guvamatanga said the fall of the local currency was due to what he termed “greedlation”.

“What we witnessed over the course of the past two months was not inflation as we know it in economic terms, but rather ‘greedflation’….. forward-pricing practices resulted in the fast escalation of prices in the shops without any justification,” he said.

Mnangagwa at the weekend gave businesses seven days to rectify the situation threatening to name those who were sabotaging the economy.

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