RBZ Boss Mangudya to present monetary policy today

ZwNews Chief Correspondent

All eyes are trained towards the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor John Mangudya who is expected to present his monetary policy this afternoon, in which he faces a daunting task, trying to arrest the runaway price hikes, amid unsustainable exchange rates.

Mangudya is expected to be bold as he tackles different perceptions from different quarters, it is indeed a balancing act for him, while some are calling for the phasing out of bond notes, in that regard, others say if he takes that route, it won’t help anything. The scarcity of the US dollar would still see inflation persisting as no one would trade in transfers or EcoCash at the 1:1 rate with the green bank note.

The one with the US dollar would charge a rate in exchange for either of the two bank transfer or EcoCash, some economists have warned. Others have proposed for the country to adopt the not so stable South African Rand, arguing that South Africa is among Zimbabwe’s biggest trade partners.

It remains to be seen, how Mangudya is going to tackle this volatile matter.

Meanwhile, the country is failing to produce anything for the export market in order to earn enough of the needed foreign currency, with most of what is being exported especially minerals and agricultural produce going unprocessed. Capacity utilisation in the industrial sector is also not at its peak.