Business Reporter
ZIMBABWE is not in any currency crises but has lately experienced exchange rates shifts, deputy Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor, Doctor Innocent Matshe has told the CEOs Roundtable.
The remarks by the central bank’s top official come at a time when the recently announced measures have triggered a modicum of exchange rate stability which has seen big retailers complying with the obtaining official rates following turbulent two months long period of ZWG instability.
Addressing the gathering of top company executives, Matshe dismissed calls to scrap the ZWG currency insisting on the need to avoid drastic reactions to the normal exchange rates dynamics.
“Make no mistake about the ZiG, it is here and it is here to stay. Another thing that you need to remember is that ZiG is not like the RTGS or the Zimbabwe dollar we used to have. The starting point here is that the country is not facing a currency crisis.
Matshe said the ZiG was not collapsing and instead floating freely but underscored that the RBZ has allowed for greater flexibility in the interbank market,” he said.
“The flexibility is what you wanted, and now you are saying that the ZiG is now in the graveyard. This cannot be called a crisis. Let us not fool ourselves and think that just because there was a depreciation, the currency is collapsing.”
He noted that the current monetary policy measures in place were adequate to sustain the economy in the short to medium term growth.
“While month-on-month inflation is expected to decrease this month, going forward, inflation is expected to stabilise,” Matshe said.
“Even if you look at the current prices, they have stabilised because the exchange rate is now in line with the prices that the retailers were using before all this.
“If you ask me, if the current measures that are in place are adequate to restore stability in the economy, I would say yes in the short to medium term. We expect that as growth picks up, it will translate into long-term growth.”
