Zimbabwe's Business Community "Rejects" The Zimbabwe Dollar
The business community last Wednesday told the Reserve Bank governor John Mangudya that they do not want the Zimbabwe dollar as it is not a sustainable currency.
This happened at a review of the 2022 monetary policy statement (MPS) hosted by the Zimbabwe Economic Society two days after the MPS was released.
The Zimbabwe dollar was reintroduced in 2019 after a decade of absence following its collapse in 2008 when Zimbabwe recorded record hyperinflation of 231 million per cent as per official statistics.
Since its reintroduction, the local unit has been losing value against other currencies. The official forex rate stands at US$1:$118,87 while the parallel comparative is US$1:$240.
The exchange rate was US$1:6,36 and US$1:10 on the official and parallel markets, respectively, on June 26, 2019, the day the local currency was reintroduced.
Even workers are rejecting the local currency citing its loss of value against other currencies. They are demanding the restoration of their 2018 salaries that were United States Dollar-denominated.
Meanwhile, authorities have indicated that they will not be redollarising again as that was not “good for the economy.”
President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently said the Southern African country cannot grow its economy on the basis of a foreign currency which it does not have control over.
He made the remarks last week while addressing dozens of ZANU PF supporters at a rally held in Epworth to launch the party’s campaign for the March 26 by-elections.
