Government employs measures to protect citizens, President Mnangagwa
Government is employing corrective measures to protect citizens from economic disruptions induced by the resurgence of parallel market activities, President Mnangagwa has said.
In his State of the Nation Address (SONA) at New Parliament Building in Harare this afternoon, the President said it remains the duty of everyone to respect and abide by measures and instruments intended to maintain economic stability and tame inflation in the country.
“Our current banking sector is on sound footing with sufficient capital and liquidity buffers while profitability, asset quality and liquidity metrics have also remained stable.
“However, we note with concern the resurgence of parallel market activities driven by speculative tendencies.
“Corrective measures are being instituted to protect all Zimbabweans from economic disruptions.
“Together, let us lay a solid foundation for economic prosperity, peaceful development and freedom from undue external interference,” he said.
Last week the Central Bank adjusted the ZiG exchange rate against the United States dollar by 42,55 percent.
The development marked the first official adjustment of the ZiG exchange rate since the currency’s introduction with RBZ setting the new exchange rate at ZiG 24,3902 to US dollar from ZiG14.
The move is intended at relinquishing mounting pressure on the foreign currency market and curb inflation that has been a relentless challenge in recent months.
The exchange rate adjustment comes in the wake of increasing open market exchange rates and the surge in demand for forex, predominantly US dollars.
The ZiG downslide against the greenback had started to create pricing challenges for the retail sector, causing distortions that pushed prices higher both in foreign currency and ZiG.
President Mnangagwa said the Government remains committed to backing the ZiG through setting aside 50 percent of royalties for building foreign currency reserves.
He said Zimbabwe’s foreign currency flows from exports have increased from US$7 billion in 2023 to over US$8 billion in 2024.
Zimbabwe generates over 75 percent of its export earnings from the mining industry with gold being the country’s largest single export earner followed by platinum.
Underpinned by the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS 1), ZimTrade — the country’s trade promotion and development body, is seeking to improve total exports by at least 10 percent per annum to US$14 billion by 2030.
Last year, Zimbabwe’s total value of exported goods grew by nearly 10 percent to US$7,2 billion from US$6,59 billion realised over the same period in 2022.-ebisnessweekl
