The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) has lamented the fact that there continue to be foreign currency auction backlogs despite several promises by the government. Apparently, there are CZI members who are still waiting on their bids from January. This has been the main issue with the RBZ’s auction as the Auction rate has remained low, thanks to the Dutch auction system designed to distribute foreign currency and the constant disqualification of players.

When it experienced challenges we continued to engage authorities in terms of what we felt were things that were not being done properly, saying that they should be strengthened.

From time-to-time backlogs were building up, but from our membership we never got to a point where we had 100% clearance of those backlogs. As we speak we have got backlogs. A lot of other people also participate on that platform, but on our side we can confirm that the backlogs still exist and bids from as far as January have not been settled, which is worrisome.

In terms of price discovery, we also felt that it was not a true pricing mechanism. We felt the principles of a Dutch auction system were not followed, and as a result we realised that we get prorated.

CZI president, Kurai Matsheza speaking to Parliament