Zimbabwe dollar remains steady at $81.35 to the US dollar for third week running

The Zimbabwe dollar remained steady against the United States dollar averaging $81.35 for the third week running but technically it depreciated marginally from $81.3458 last week to $81.3499.

Today’s rate was the lowest for October with that for 6 October at $81.3486.

Only 29 bids out of 384 were disqualified with 14 in the Small and Medium Enterprises auction and 15 in the main auction.

A total of 355 bids with a value of US$28.8 million were approved, 132 from the SME sector and 223 from the main one.

Raw materials, machinery and equipment accounted for US$15.4 million.

The highest rate offered dropped from $88.07 to $87.10 while the lowest rate remained static at $79.

The exchange rate has brought about stability in the market with Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube saying he expects prices to start dropping as competition among local producers begins.

The Old Mutual Implied Rate, however, remains worrying as it continues to defy the market raising questions as to whether the auction is not being manipulated.

The OMIR was at $131.26 today a major drop from yesterday when it stood at $139.01.

Former Finance Minister and Movement for Democratic Change vice-president Tendai Biti claimed that the foreign currency auction was rigged but the figures he gave were grossly exaggerated.

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