A report claims that there was consternation among government officials after Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya angrily walked out of a meeting with Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube.
The Independent claims that Mangudya and Ncube clashed over the monetary policy statement whose presentation is long overdue.
Insiders who spoke to the Independent had this to say about the angry exchange between the two:
Mangudya and his team from the RBZ were summoned to Treasury so that he could brief the Finance minister on the draft MPS before officially presenting it last week (February 7). As he was presenting the major highlights of the policy statement, it became very clear that Ncube, even as he sat on his chair calmly, was not impressed.
Midway through John’s presentation, Ncube interjected, pointing out that the policy statement was not comprehensive and that it did not holistically address the challenges buffeting the economy.
Ncube spoke calmly but robustly, lecturing Mangudya as though he were his university student, that it would be catastrophic to maintain the equivalent trading ratio between the bond note and the US dollar.
Perhaps fed up with being treated like a student, Mangudya rose from his chair, tossed a bunch of papers in the direction of Ncube and left the room with his team in tow. There was deathly silence in the room, and people only became alive to what had happened after JPM (Mangudya) stormed out.