Biti Comments On RBZ’s Instruction To Exporters To Pay ZESA In Forex

Former Finance Minister Tendai Biti has denounced the recently-gazetted Statutory Instrument 249 of 2019 which obliges exporters to pay for electricity in US Dollars.

Writing on Twitter, Biti said the move is a clear sign that de-dollarisation will simply not work. He said:

The regime has just gazetted SI 249 of 2019 which obliges exporters to pay for electricity in US$. This is further proof that de-dollarisation is not working and will not work.

Quite clearly the instrument is null and void. The RBZ does not have the powers of currency selectivity.

The regime’s penchant for rule by regulation is dangerous and authoritarian. Only autocratic regimes bypass Parliament and rule by decree.

The country is being run by clueless louts on the basis of ill-thought kick and hope policies and policy reversals have become the order of the day.

The statutory instrument orders exporters to pay the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) in forex for the next 6 months, with all forex payments having to be made from Nostro accounts to bar the use of black-market funds.