Chronicle Editor
Sikhulekelani Moyo, Business Reporter
THE official exchange rate moved to US$1:Z$118,87 on Tuesday as the local dollar lost grip against the greenback from last week’s US$1:$116,7.
In a latest weekly update, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) said US$37,2 million was awarded as the grand total to the auction with US$7 million being allotted to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and US$30,2 million to the main auction.
Much of the forex continue to be allotted to the procurement of raw material, machinery and equipment.
This week 36,6 percent of the allotted grand total, which is US$13,6 million was allotted to the procurement of raw materials and US$10,2 million to machinery and equipment.
SMEs received 898 bids and 798 were accepted and the main auction received 536 bids and 451 were accepted.
The official forex auction continues to play a critical role in providing businesses with affordable and easy to access foreign currency, which has seen 7 000 entities benefiting from the platform since its establishment in June 2021.
Economic commentators continue calling for the fine tuning of the platform as beneficiaries complain over delays in disbursements of allotted funds, which forces some to seek solace on the parallel market. -@SikhulekelaniM1.
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