Despite the vanishing of the United States dollar from the market and the cash shortages
buffeting the country, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) says it is importing $10 million
of the greenback weekly.
RBZ governor, John Mangudya said the importation of the dollar was inconsistent with
maintaining a dollarised economy.
"Yes, we import cash almost every week and we are now importing $10 million on a weekly
basis. When we say we import cash we say we import dollars because we said we want to
continue using the dollar in this economy," he told NewsDay last week.
This comes after Mangudya said last week that cash deposits at banks and nostro holdings
had increased by 50% to $450 million. He said $140 million in bond notes, $23 million in
bond coins and an estimated $400 million to $600 million was circulating in the economy.
Mangudya bemoaned the inefficient money circulation, saying it was working against the
growth of the economy.
"If there was an efficient circulating system, that fund is sufficient to oil the economy.
But the money is not circulating as efficiently as we would require. This is because the
economy requires us as a team to improve on discipline to ensure that as business and
traders when we receive money we, bank it again. Then it becomes a cycle," he said.
Mangudya said RBZ could not import large quantities, as this could affect the stability of
foreign currency in nostro accounts, which is needed to fund the acquisition of the
industry's raw materials and fuel.
"We have been importing cash and my only concern, as I have been saying much of the time,
is that we have competing requirements. The foreign currency, that is the nostro, is
required by industry to import raw materials. The foreign currency in the nostro is
required for fuel and electricity imports as well. So you need to make an economic choice
to import cash to satisfy Zimbabweans or keep money in the nostro to fire the economy," he
said.
BY FIDELITY MHLANGA
