"Sharks Thriving On Black Market Are Frustrating Interbank Forex System", Commerce Minister

Industry and Commerce Minister Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu has said that some big companies were frustrating the success of the interbank forex market system. The minister noted that this was because they were getting big shares of foreign currency when the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe was allocating forex.

Ndlovu who was addressing delegates to the Bulawayo Zanu-PF Youth League one-day conference said:

We have sharks that are thriving on the black market and are doing all within their powers to suppress a smooth migration into a formal trading system where companies can access foreign currency from the interbank market.

These are the same big guys who were big beneficiaries of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe system of forex allocation. They are now seeing a situation whereby everyone is equal in the market and all that one needs is his or her RTGS money to buy foreign currency on the interbank market. This is the reason why they are now resorting to putting spanners in the works so that the system fails.

Minister Ndlovu further observed that instead of introducing price controls the Government would rather address factors fuelling price hikes such as the black market currency exchange rates which result in price distortions.

More: The Herald