Zimbabweans React: To Mthuli Ncube's Announcement Of Measures To Stabilise Zim Dollar
It seems every challenge the country faces nowadays is met with the creation of a new task force or the promulgation of a Statutory Instrument by the powers that be.
Following the plummeting of the Zimbabwe dollar on the parallel exchange rate market over the past few days, Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube today (Wednesday) announced a raft of measures to stabilise the local currency.
Among the measures envisaged by the Treasury boss include the setting up of a Currency Stabilisation Task Force.
Some of the measures announced by Ncube were met with scepticism by commentators, with some of them expressing their view on microblogging site Twitter. Here are some of the reactions to Ncube’s statement:
Alex Magaisa: Mthuli & John make an oxymoronic announcement: “managed floating exchange rate” You can’t have your cake & eat it. It’s either floating or managed. Not both. They’ve been managing it anyway (Interbank rate) which is why it’s lagging behind the floating rate (parallel market rate).
Tendai Biti: As we predicted weeks ago the regime has now officially floated the US$ &in the same vein established a new sobriquet known as Currency Stabilization Task Force. There were never conditions for de-dollarisation & simple solution is to repeal SI33 & 142In simple regime must resign.
Pedzisai Ruhanya: We are in dollarisation regime but some POLITICIANS from ZANU PF are in denial. This economy is dollarised. Best way to stabilise the economy is to stabilise governance and politics first.
Hopewell Chin’ono: Mthuli Ncube is chasing his own tail, a wild goose chase. For starters, a managed exchange rate regime is impossible without reserves. They don’t realize that they have reached a stage where re-dollarization is inevitable & de-dollarization is increasingly becoming a pipe dream.
Kuda Musasiwa: Another Task Force. A new type of exchange control. bank rate is no more… by just changing the name… so it’s still there. By another name. You can change the name from “poo” to “rose” but it’s still poo. Basically they have NO PLAN.
Fadzayi Mahere: “Best Finance Minister” vapererwa: Admits forex trading platform isn’t transparent or effective. Floats exchange rate but retain the power to control & intervene in setting the exchange rate. It won’t work. Govt must introduce political reforms & address the fundamentals.
a. Floating attracts FX into formal system, but its neither a sufficient nor necessary condition to stabilise the rate b. Abolishing the many subsidies, reducing the size of gvt & adopting a progressive FX control regime, among others, will assist to stabilize the rate.
c) Only GVT, RBZ & beneficiaries of state contracts, singularly or severally, have capacity to recklessly push the rate
d) The RBZ