The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has warned the local industry against the wait and see attitude in anticipation of immediate economic stability in light of government’s monetary reforms.
Zimbabwe’s currency reforms, which started with the separation of nostro and RTGS accounts, followed by the floating of the United States dollar with other currencies and the removal of a multicurrency system, have seen some local firms adopting a wait and see attitude on production in anticipation of stability.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Deputy Governor, Dr Jesimen Chipika, however told captains of industry and commerce during her presentation at the 2019 bankers and banking survey launch in Harare this Thursday that those companies that can produce in any environment should forge ahead as the reforms are in progress ahead of anticipated stability targets.
“Why are the companies waiting for stability , our economy need production so we should forge ahead , so that by the time we are in real full swing the nation can derive more benefits,” said Dr Chipika.
While findings within the banking survey report shows increased profits, short term deposits, drop in savings and lack of confidence in the financial sector, the survey’s lead researcher, Mr Respect Gwenzi says all banks made profits due to foreign currency transactions, and non-core business activities.
“It is an issue of foreign currency transactions that have seen a huge growth in terms of profitability with the need for banks to also focus on the lost market shares being highly critical,”explained Gwenzi.
Among the recommendations from the survey is the need to come up with confidence building measures, stabilising the value of the Zimbabwe dollar against other key currencies, focus on affordable transaction costs and attractive interest on savings to sustain the growth of banks.
