No More Currency Reforms Coming - RBZ

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor, Dr John Panonetsa Mangudya, has said that the currency reforms which induced pain on the citizenry were yielding positive results.

Speaking during an interactive meeting with the Zimbabwe Economic Society on Thursday last week, Mangudya observed that the introduction of Statutory Instrument 142 of 2019 improved the performance of the interbank forex market. He said:

We have seen a great improvement on the interbank forex market where right now banks and bureau de changes are purchasing foreign currency from their customers at a rate of about $2 million per day. Before that it was $500 000 and below.

So it means many people are now using banks as avenues for them to exchange money. We want to move away from people exchanging money under the trees.

Last month, the government through SI 142 of 2019 reintroduced the Zimbabwe dollar and made it the sole legal tender in the country. This marked the end of the multicurrency regime that had been adopted a decade ago following a record high hyperinflation of 2008.

Upon the announcement of the SI, some quarters of society expressed concern of the development as they argued that fundamentals to sustain the currency were not yet in place.

Mangudya noted that confidence was low and that the government needed to improve in enhancing it since confidence was essential for the resuscitation of the economy. He added:

The past nine months was painful for everyone but we cannot continue in pain. We want to move on as a country because there are no more currency reforms coming.

More: Sunday Mail