Sundaymail Editor
Online Reporter
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) says it has made significant progress in clearing the backlog of foreign currency allotments.
In a statement on Friday, RBZ governor Dr John Mangudya said:
“The main auction allotments for auction 64 of Tuesday, 21 September 2021 will be fully paid by Monday, 4 October 2021.
“The Bank has ring-fenced the auction allotments backlog which it will continue to expunge separately from current allotments.”
The central bank said once the backlog has been cleared, all new forex allotments will be cleared over a 14-day period.
Earlier this week, Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said US$70 million had been disbursed towards clearing the backlog of around US$200 million.
Over 4000 firms have received around US$1,7 billion at the main auction, while US$233 million has been accessed at the SMEs auction.
Meanwhile, Dr Mangudya said the central bank has introduced special exchange rate-linked corporate open market operations bills, which will help in curbing the growth of money supply in the economy.
“These bills will be targeted at corporates with huge local currency balances or those receiving huge payments in local currency, as some of these funds are being used to destabilise the foreign exchange market,” said the governor.
Online Reporter