Zimbabwe to issue ministerial statement on Thursday on how to resolve the exchange rate problem

Zimbabwe will issue a ministerial statement next Thursday on how to resolve the exchange rate problem, Deputy Minister of Finance Clemence Chiduwa told the Senate yesterday.

He said people were manipulating the Zimbabwe dollar with some exchanging it at $250, others at $350 and some at $450. He said some schools were even charging $500 to the US dollar.

The auction rate is currently $165.99.

“In order for us to move forward, next week Thursday, we are going to give a Ministerial Statement on how best we can resolve the exchange rate issue.  We also have other measures but we cannot pre-empt them,” Chiduwa said.

“Those who are involved in speculation of rates are going against the law.  Our financial intelligence said they are waiting while following all the bank transactions.  There is nothing that we do not know about your transactions.  For example, a person with two million in their account, we can see all the transactions.  So for those making voluminous transactions and engaging in black market deals, we have sued about 200 companies.

“Can we develop by manipulating the exchange rate?  How is it going to help us?  A country is only built through production. We are disadvantaging ourselves by manipulating the exchange rate and this will only result in a negative impact on prices.  We are the ones responsible for the high rates that are the order of the day.  We will bring a Ministerial Statement on the policies that we will implement, though I cannot pre-empt those now.  We are working on resolving this issue of exchange rates.”

Q &A:

*HON. SEN. KAMBIZI: Thank you Mr. President of Senate. My question to the Minister of Finance is, the standard of living of people in Zimbabwe is now difficult because of the US dollar currency. The exchange rate between the RTGS and the United States dollar is not favourable. May the Minister of Finance clearly explain the relationship or the exchange rate between the US dollars and the RTGS? The money that the GMB is going to pay to farmers will be eroded by the exchange rate. May the Government address this issue? What is the policy in place to resolve the issue of the exchange rate? The US dollar rate is going up while the RTGS is going down.

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