Govt to clear forex backlog

STAFF WRITER

Secretary for Finance and Economic Development Ministry, George Guvamatanga, has indicated that government through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) would clear foreign currency backlog from the auction system in the next 45 days.

His remarks come at a time when local companies are struggling to access foreign currency allotted to them at the RBZ foreign currency auction system.

Captains of industry said in the event that their bids were accepted, it is taking more than two months to access the funds.

“We would want to assure the market that within the next 30 to 45 days we will clear the backlog that is there in the auction system. We know it is very much manageable, ”Guvamatanga said.

The RBZ introduced the auction system last year as part of efforts to deal with unrelenting parallel market foreign currency exchange rate, which continued to skyrocket.

The central bank had hoped the system would deal with the acute shortage of foreign currency in the country.

But, captains of industry have said that companies were still failing to access adequate foreign currency from the system, forcing them to source forex from the parallel market where premiums are punitive.