Monday, November 11, 2024

Zimbabwe blames economic woes on currency manipulation

Must read

Nigerian High Commission apartments in Ghana demolished

Some new apartments built at the residence of the Nigerian High Commissioner in Ghana’s capital city Accra, have been demolished by bulldozers. The apartments have been constructed to...

Covid-19: Ghana records significant recovery numbers

Ghanaian health officials on Saturday said over 10,000 persons infected with the coronavirus have now recovered. The significant number of recoveries means the country now...

DR Congo: President’s ex-chief of staff jailed 20 years for corruption

The ex-chief of staff of the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been jailed 20 years by a high court. Vital Kamerhe was...

Covid-19: Zimbabwe’s health minister arrested, charged for graft

Zimbabwe's Health Minister Obadiah Moyo has been arrested over corruption allegations related to procurement of medical equipment worth $60 million. Moyo is accused of illegally...
Isaac Kaledzihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Kaledzi
Isaac Kaledzi is an experienced and award winning journalist from Ghana. He has worked for several media brands both in Ghana and on the International scene. Isaac Kaledzi is currently serving as an African Correspondent for DW.

Zimbabwe’s President, Emmerson Mnangagwa is struggling to fix the economic woes of his country. But he seems to have identified the cause of the problem.

In an opinion article published in the Sunday Mail in Zimbabwe, President Mnangagwa blamed the crisis partly on “wanton illicit currency deals happening in what is known as the black market.”

Zimbabwe’s economy has been struggling for decades now since the era of former President Robert Mugabe.

President Mnangagwa promised to restore the economy back on track but doesn’t seem to have gotten the solutions yet.

The local currency in theory has the same value as the US dollar. It has been in free fall in recent weeks, raising fears of a return to the hyper-inflation that wrecked national finances in 2009.

Current economic crisis has prevented most shops from stocking their shelves. This is due to panic buying with fast food chains also announcing a halt in their businesses.

The government has introduced taxes on electronic transactions while battling shortage of fuel. A two-cents, tax for every dollar of electronic payments was introduced this month.

Crackdown on currency manipulators

President Mnanagwa in his opinion article said “We have suffered massive market failures, manifesting in complete collapse of the pricing framework for virtually all commodities, regardless of import component. There has been a run on the bond note.

In all this, there have been no winners, given that at the end of the day we are all consumers who demand and buy goods and services at any one stage for our survival.”

The President claims that “Reports and submissions before me on illicit currency dealings point to an intricate network of currency speculators mostly in high places and in places of trust.”

Mr. Mnanagwa said his country currently doesn’t have “legislation to deal with currency manipulators. We therefore need urgent and robust measures to deal with this financial menace.”

He however promised that there would be “policy changes and key adjustments in different sectors and aspects of the economy, including in the public sector” to resolve the crisis.

 

 

 

Source: Africafeeds.com

- Advertisement -

More articles

- Advertisement -

Latest article

Nigerian High Commission apartments in Ghana demolished

Some new apartments built at the residence of the Nigerian High Commissioner in Ghana’s capital city Accra, have been demolished by bulldozers. The apartments have been constructed to...

Covid-19: Ghana records significant recovery numbers

Ghanaian health officials on Saturday said over 10,000 persons infected with the coronavirus have now recovered. The significant number of recoveries means the country now...

DR Congo: President’s ex-chief of staff jailed 20 years for corruption

The ex-chief of staff of the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been jailed 20 years by a high court. Vital Kamerhe was...

Covid-19: Zimbabwe’s health minister arrested, charged for graft

Zimbabwe's Health Minister Obadiah Moyo has been arrested over corruption allegations related to procurement of medical equipment worth $60 million. Moyo is accused of illegally...

Ghana’s new law that jails citizens not wearing facemask 10 years

Ghanaians who fail to wear the face masks in compliance with a presidential directive risk going to jail for ten years. They also face a...