RBZ CLAIMS STABILITY BUT ZIMBABWEANS ARE STILL SUFFERING
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe says the exchange rate and inflation are now more stable. They say this is because of new measures they have brought into the system. The bank also injected about one hundred and fifty million US dollars to help the foreign exchange market. They want people to believe this is a big success, but for many of us on the ground, life is still very hard.
The Monetary Policy Committee met on the third of December to look at how their plans are working. They looked at the monetary policy they announced on the twenty-seventh of September and gave a statement. They said the policies have helped reduce the amount of money moving around and have stopped people from speculating in the forex market. They also said the exchange rate and inflation have been more stable since October. They call this good news, but ordinary people are not seeing this good news in their daily lives.
The committee shared some numbers to show progress. They said inflation for October was 37.2% and then it went down to 11.7% in November. They said inflation went high in October because the ZiG lost value in September. Now they say things have improved and inflation will continue going down. But even when the numbers look good on paper, the truth is that prices in the shops are still rising and people cannot afford basic things. Stability on paper does not mean stability in people’s homes.
They also said the exchange rate is looking better. The gap between the official rate and the black market rate is now smaller. They said foreign currency inflows are strong. Zimbabwe received eleven point zero five billion US dollars in the first ten months of 2024. This is nineteen point one percent more than the same time in 2023, when the figure was nine point two seven billion. But even with these inflows, people are still forced to use the black market because the official system does not work for them. The government keeps celebrating numbers, but the numbers do not feed families.
The MPC decided to keep its policies the same. They kept the Bank Policy rate at thirty-five percent. They kept the reserve requirements for savings and time deposits at fifteen percent for both local and foreign currency. Demand and call deposits stay at thirty percent. They also said they want to improve the interbank forex market so it can work better. The government also introduced a rule saying companies must now pay tax fifty percent in US dollars and fifty percent in ZiG. They say this rule will make companies sell more forex. But all this shows is that the government is desperate for foreign currency because they have failed to build trust in the ZiG.
The RBZ says its tight policies may slow down economic growth. To fix this, they want to start a new Targeted Finance Facility to help businesses. They will explain later how banks should use it. But we have heard many promises before. Zimbabweans want real change, not more talk.
The MPC says it will keep watching the situation to protect stability. They say they want inflation and the exchange rate to stay stable so the economy can grow. But for many years we have heard this same message while people continue to suffer. The truth is that stability will never come as long as this corrupt system stays in place.
These developments show one thing. The RBZ is trying to fix problems that were caused by bad leadership and bad governance. They want to show progress, but real progress must be felt by the people, not only written in reports. Zimbabweans are watching closely. We hope things will get better, but we also know that true change will only come when this system ends and the people finally have leaders who care about them.
