Staff Reporter
Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), Dr Contastino Chiwenga assured that bold measures were being implemented by Government
in fostering price and exchange rate stability in the economy and to anchor inflation expectations as evidenced by a sustained decline in month-on-month inflation from 30.7 percent in June 2022, to less than 1 percent in March 2023.
Vice President Chiwenga made the remarks while officially opening the 2023 International Business Conference (IBC) in Bulawayo, at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) this Wednesday.
VP Chiwenga informed that the measures being implemented included a combination of tight monetary and fiscal policy, insistence on value for money for Government procurement processes and effective monitoring and surveillance by the Fiscal Intelligence Unit (FIU).
Early April, the FIU froze the assets of the General Manager of Fidelity Printers and Refiners, Fredrick Kunaka and three other people suspected to be part of an alleged gold-smuggling and money laundering syndicate.
However, the Vice President said the transitory exchange rate volatility in the parallel market witnessed in the economy, from March 2023, is merely a reflection of the store of value demand for foreign currency, given that the country continues to experience increased foreign exchange inflows, reaching US$11.6 billion in 2022, up from historical averages of around US$5-6 billion.
In addition, VP Chiwenga said the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) was expanding the investment options for corporates and individuals with excess ZWL balances for value preservation purposes by complementing the current issuance of physical gold coins with gold-backed digital products.
Speaking during the same event, Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube urged companies to list on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) market. He added that Government was developing the VFEX to create an off-shore financial centre, in efforts to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for Zimbabwe in particular and the Southern African region in general.
Minister Ncube applauded a platinum mining company, Karo Resources for listing on the VFEX. Moreover, Prof Ncube urged companies to apply for Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) so that they could innovate, retool, diversify and enhance production.
