‘Bureaux de change forex to cushion small buyers’
MEMBERS of the public say measures put in place by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to allow them to buy foreign currency from bureaux de change at affordable prices, will cushion citizens from punitive parallel market exchange rates.
The central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) recommended the move due to concerns over the widening the gap between the official and open market exchange rates, which made it difficult for ordinary citizens requiring forex for small value transactions to acquire US dollars at reasonable prices.
But after the RBZ’s intervention last week, members of the public can now buy foreign currency at the official exchange rate of about $86,21 plus a commission of just 10 percent, which comes to around $94,60 for US$1, a significantly lower price than the black market rate of around $160 to the greenback.
The central bank has made the process simple, to ensure more people who require hard currency for low value transactions like paying for medicines or buying fuel at Direct Fuel Imports (DFI) service stations, are not short changed by unscrupulous traders on the black market.|
All a prospective buyer of forex from the bureaux de change requires is the national registration identity card plus the requisite local currency in their bank account and a bank card to swipe for the purchase.
Previously, only those with passports and requiring to make external payments, after producing the proof, could buy relatively small amounts of forex at bureaux de change. The arrangement, which was put in place in April this year, was meant to cater and support transactions of up to a maximum of US$500. The RBZ runs a weekly forex auction for large firms and small to medium enterprises (SMEs), which sells forex to the entities; from a few thousand US dollars to several millions.
A survey conducted by The Herald Finance & Business in Harare central business district yesterday established that there were queues of variable lengths at bureaux de change as people lined up to buy the prescribed amount of US$50 per week for an individual.
Homelink, one of the bureaux de change, was selling the forex especially, predominantly US dollars, while Quest Financial Services said by mid morning it had sold the foreign currency from purchase receipts issued last week and was now working on for this week’s batch of funds.
Another bureau de change, Canarium, indicated that clients should come to purchase forex under the facility for ordinary citizens on Thursday as they were expecting to receive their forex allocation from the central bank yesterday.
Bureaux de change started selling foreign currency to ordinary customers last week following the central bank’s MPC resolutions from last month, which seek to promote financial inclusion and access to forex for small value transactions.
In an interview, a number of clients who had received their weekly US$50 portion said they were happy with the government’s intervention from the prowling parallel market rates.
“We are happy with the bureau de change rate, because even after the 10 percent commission the rate is almost half of what is obtained on the parallel market, the facility provides foreign currency to general citizens at a generous price,” said one of the forex recipients.
Ms Rudo Musendekwa said the facility was good, but authorities should continuously craft mechanisms to curb manipulation of the facility by those who might want to take advantage.
“I managed to get my US$50 three days after submitting my bid, people are getting the foreign currency, and I really wish people would not manipulate this good gesture by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe,” said Ms Musendekwa.
In terms of the MPC’s resolution, members of the public wishing to buy foreign currency are now able to approach any registered bureau de change and upon producing a national registration identity card they can buy the recommended maximum amount of US$50 per week.
Before, there has been no provision for the general public, especially those seeking to do domestic transactions in foreign currency, without passports or receipts for external payments, to purchase US dollars from bureaux de change, resorting only to the open market whenever the need arose.-herald.cl.zw
