Martin Kadzere and Golden Sibanda
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has liberalised the US dollar exchange rate against real time gross settlement balances (RTGS), bond notes and all currencies in the multi-currency basket, as it seeks to formalise trade in foreign currency.
Delivering the eagerly awaited 2019 Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) this afternoon, RBZ Governor Dr John Mangudya said the move would bring sanity in the foreign currency market, promote exports, boost Diaspora remittances and investments, eliminate multi-tier pricing a as well as preserve value of local forms of money.
Click here for the full statement
The RBZ introduced bond notes in 2016, as an export incentive and pegged the surrogate currency as well as electronic dollars at one to one with the US dollar, but shortage of forex in Zimbabwe resulted in the market disregarding the parity policy and ascribing high premiums on the greenback.
As such, the central bank will with immediate effect establish an interbank foreign exchange market to formalize trade in foreign currency through banks and bureaux de change on a willing buyer willing seller basis.
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