RBZ Cannot Control Black Market Rates, Says Official

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has no control over the ever-rising black-market exchange rate according to the central bank’s senior payment systems analyst, Howard Tundu.

Tundu made the remarks while speaking at the Consumer Education and Awareness Campaign hosted by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) at Jerera Growth Point in Zaka, Masvingo Province. He said:

As RBZ we cannot control what people do outside the official rates where they have their rates which they use for payments. We are only concerned about the Zimbabwe dollar.

But Africa Economic Development Strategies executive director Gift Mugano told NewsDay in an interview that the RBZ should be concerned about the parallel market rate. He said:

The pricing regime in the market now is determined by the black-market pricing and the same black market is influenced by policy discord within the government.

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The fact that the central bank controls the exchange rate on the auction system has been one of the drivers of distortions.

You can’t say you are only concerned about the official rate. They should be concerned about the black-market rate. This is a sign of accepting defeat.

The Zimbabwe dollar is currently trading close to $4 000 to the US dollar on the parallel market.

This has resulted in price hikes and the shortage of some basic food items in supermarket shelves where they are sold in Zimbabwe dollars but the same goods are readily available on the informal market and being sold exclusively in US dollars.

More: Pindula News