Chronicle Editor
Sikhulekelani Moyo, Business Reporter
THE Zimbabwean dollar further weakened against the United States dollar at the weekly forex auction system on Tuesday, trading at Z$165,99 to the green back.
Last week, the local currency traded at $159,3 against the United States Dollar.
According to an update by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) after this week’s auction, a total of US$28,6 million was allotted at both the main and Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) platforms.
The main auction was allotted US$24,1 million while the SMEs segment got US$4,6 million.
As has been the tradition, the bulk of the foreign currency was allotted towards procurement of raw material, machinery and equipment.
This saw US$12,5 million being pumped towards procurement of raw materials and US$7,7 million going towards procurement of machinery and equipment by both the main and the SMEs auction.
Other allotments were channelled towards procurement of consumables like spares and electricals, service like loans and education, retail and distribution like food and beverages, pharmaceuticals and paper and packaging.
The main auction received 474 bids and 429 were accepted whilst the SMEs auction received 1151 bids and 1082 were accepted.
Since its introduction on June 2020, the official forex trading platform continues to play a critical role in supporting the productive sector to access forex resources
However, parallel market activity remains stubborn with its rate hovering at around US$1: Z$350 or more in some instances depending on demand.
@SikhulekelaniM1
Online Reporter