RBZ Accused Of Fueling Black Market Forex Volatility

Harare-based economic commentator John Robertson has blamed people “very close” to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) for manipulating foreign currency rates on the black market.

Robertson believes that some people buy foreign currency on the official interbank rate for 1:17 and then sell it on the parallel market for profit at $24-$25 to the US dollar. He said:

The people who are buying money at the official exchange rate seem not to be using that money for importing things. It would appear they went on the (parallel) market and sold that money at $24-$25 to the US dollar, simply for profit.

It would seem that some people very close to or connected to people in the Reserve Bank are the ones guilty of this behaviour. We expect the Reserve Bank to use its authority to discipline its people.

The RBZ’s Financial Intelligence Unit last on Friday accused a Chinese firm, China Nanchang, of releasing millions of dollars on to the market, stoking a wild run of the exchange rate.

The Chinese firm’s account was subsequently frozen “pending further analysis”.

More: The Herald