eBusiness Weekly
Tawanda Musarurwa
Official figures show that US$1,5 billion has been traded on the foreign currency interbank market as at the end of last year, since it was established in February.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Dr John Mangudya said the authorities were “satisfied” with the performance of the interbank market last year.
“The Committee noted with satisfaction that as at 31st December 2019, an aggregate amount of US$1,5 billion had been traded on the interbank market,” he said in an update following the latest meeting of the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
“The MPC agreed that the Bank should set aside appropriate foreign exchange resources to intervene and stabilise the market, as may be required once the enhanced interbank market become fully operational in the near future.
“The MPC also resolved to strengthen the operations of bureaux de change by further liberalising their trading activities under a framework to be supervised by the Bank.
Last year, the country progressed a raft of currency reforms including removal of a 1:1 peg between the United States dollar and the RTGS dollar, ending the long-standing multicurrency system and introducing the Zimbabwe dollar as the sole legal currency for local transactions, through the promulgation of Statutory Instrument 142 of 2019.
Observers such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have commended the Zimbabwean Government on its currency reforms.
Meanwhile, the central bank governor said progress was being made on the establishment of a Foreign Exchange Trading System.
“The electronic deal tracker system under the Reuters platform went live on a trial basis on 2 December 2019. The main aim of the framework is to improve the operation and efficiency of the foreign exchange market through a more transparent price discovery process set by market makers,” said Dr Mangudya.
“This system marks a significant step towards further liberalisation of foreign currency trading and is in support of the move towards the complete liberalisation of the current account, including the sourcing of funds for the importation of strategic commodities.”
