If you are a regular visitor to our foreign currency update you would have noticed that it has been more than a week since we updated the official exchange rate. This is because the last foreign currency auction was held over a week ago by the RBZ. There was no auction this week and there will probably be no auction this coming week either. According to the RBZ, the next auction is only going to happen next week.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in its esteemed wisdom has said that the auction will resume on the 12th of January 2021 (not 2020 as reported in the Chronicle). The last auction was conducted on Monday 21 December instead of on Tuesday because that Tuesday fell on a public holiday. So why the break?

In light of the festive season, the local manufacturing sector has gone on the traditional annual shutdown and firms are expected to resume operations mid-next month.
It’s because manufacturing has taken a break apparently

The auction has been the a godsend a rare genius move from an otherwise inept coteries of experts charged with making our policies. That plus the decision to allow the USD back into the economy resulted in much stability.