We have been waiting for it and it’s finally here. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has finally released their much anticipated 2019 Mid Term Monetary Policy during a week in which news cycles have been hogged by the death and subsequent funeral of the former president of Zimbabwe.
Unobserved by the mainstream media and with the authorities silent on it the Zimbabwean dollar has been in a free fall. It went from $1 USD: $11 ZWL in the early weeks of August to the current $15.80 ZWL. As most prices are pegged using the black market rate the depreciation of the Zim dollar has been accompanied by skyrocketing prices.
It’s not a big deal is the main theme of this Mid-Term policy
The policy softly notes that annual inflation rose from 5% a year ago to over 170% in June of this year when the figures were last published before the governor’s colleague, the Minister of Finance ordered the relevant agencies to stop publishing inflation figures.
Inflation is attributed to the removal of subsidies on certain products including the continuous review of fuel prices, grain shortages and general lack of faith in the authorities. The last point is naturally not included.
The policy insists that stability and prosperity are coming soon. These are words that are going to ring hollow to a population that has been subjected to shock price adjustments on a weekly basis while wages remain stagnant.
Leave A Comment