Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has said total remittances in 2020 rose by 42.57 percent to US$1.647 billion with the huge chunk coming from individual diaspora remittances.
The central bank indicated that individual diaspora remittances were US$1.002 billion which is the highest ever, stamping remittances as an important contributor to exchange receipts.
The World Bank had projected that Global remittances were to decline sharply by about 20 percent in 2020 due to the economic crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown.
In December, RBZ governor Dr John Mangudya said Zimbabwe had recorded a significant improvement in foreign currency holdings attributing the development to improvement in exports, Diaspora inflows and a better business operating environment.
This is good news considering that Zimbabwe has had an enormous scarcity of foreign currency for years now, an issue that has hamstrung efforts to revive the economy.
Zimbabwe’s major foreign currency sources include diaspora remittances, tobacco and gold as well as other minerals.
The country is, unfortunately, has experienced a sharp decline in production in expecting both the agriculture and mining sectors and the decline is attributed to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
For instance, the Southern African country recorded approximately less than 20 tonnes of gold last in 2019, its lowest gold output in 6 years.
This results in reduced forex earnings and will likely create overdependence on diaspora remittances.
Remittances are a major source of revenue globally with World Bank reports suggesting that international remittances are triple the amount of aid relief provided to the Yemenis.
More: Chips FinX
