Zimbabwe forex auction allots record US$51.7 million to 1336 businesses

Zimbabwe’s foreign currency auction system today allotted a record US$51.7 million to 1 336 businesses, 937 of them being small and medium enterprises.

The local currency eased by 8 cents to average $85.9084 from last week’s $85.8290.

Offers were much higher in the SME auction ranging from $82.50 to $95 while in the main auction they ranged from $83 to $90.

All bids in the SME sector were met in full while in the main auction bids accepted were worth  US$41.3 million but US$36.5 million was allotted.

The auction has so far disbursed US$1.9 billion since its launch on 23 June last year.

Zimbabwe today received a major boost which should further stabilise the market with the release of nearly US$1 billion from the International Monetary Fund.

Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said the money will be used in four main areas:

• The social sector; covering health, education, and the social safety nets;
• The productive sector; supporting agriculture, industry and manufacturing, and the mining sector;
• Infrastructure investments, and
• Contingency resources, and foreign currency reserves for supporting macro-economic stability going forward.

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