The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the government have been going around trying to force people to use the so-called official rate but data recently shared by the RBZ shows that of all recorded transactions only 30% of the money is disbursed and provided for by the RBZ. The rest comes out of the FCA accounts of the companies involved.

This essentially means that the government wants to use a rate obtained from what is essentially a minority auction and impose it upon the market. Naturally, this leads to pricing distortions, losses and loads of confusion. Below is the data from the RBZ showing formal foreign currency movements over the 9 months ending in November. It’s ridiculous that the RBZ wants everyone to use their so-called official rate which is based on 30% of transactions instead of using bona fide market rates.

MonthForeign Currency Accounts (FCAs)Interbank Market PaymentsForeign Currency Auction AllotmentsTotal
Jan-21300,309,72824,276,15599,194,883423,780,767
Feb-21458,986,74937,049,364147,216,349643,252,462
Mar-21363,258,24052,958,997178,876,453595,093,690
Apr-21241,802,17229,558,900128,056,464399,417,536
May-21301,031,50629,713,430159,699,141490,444,077
Jun-21358,546,90827,953,907207,003,995593,504,810
Jul-21360,185,94025,027,355185,720,760570,934,055
Aug-21296,209,33219,911,086236,874,671552,995,089
Sep-21471,025,66029,221,093158,898,808659,145,561
Total3,151,356,235275,670,2871,501,541,5254,928,568,047
Proportion64%6%30%100%

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