Chronicle Editor
Sikhulekelani Moyo, Business Reporter
THE official exchange rate has moved to US$1: Z$416,1 at the weekly Foreign Currency Auction System after the local dollar lost grip on Tuesday against the greenback from US$1: $403,4 announced last week.
A total of US$24,1 million was allotted to bidders this week with the bulk of funds going towards procurement of raw materials followed by machinery and equipment.
The main action allotted US$10,7 million to procurement of raw material whilst the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) action allotted US$1,2 million for the same purpose.
Both auctions allotted US$5,8 million towards the procurement of machinery and equipment.
At this week’s auction, 704 bids were received on the Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) forex auction, with 640 accepted and 64 disqualified. The total number of bids allotted was 620.
On the main forex auction, a total of 236 bids were received while 223 were accepted and 13 were disqualified. The total number of bids allotted was 221.
The RBZ said bids with overdue CDIs, outstanding Bills of Entry (BOEs), insufficient ZWL and those with sufficient FCA balances were also disqualified.
Amid exchange rate pressure from the parallel market, whose exchange rate is almost double the official rate, the auction system continues to provide easy access of foreign currency to the productive sector in a bid to promote industrial growth to strengthen Zimbabwe’s local currency.
-@SikhulekelaniM1
Londile Moyo
Bongani Ndlovu