Councillor David Coltart, Mayor of Bulawayo, has urged the government to either abandon the Zimbabwean dollar (ZiG) or fully adopt the US dollar and South African Rand due to significant losses faced by local authorities and supermarkets.
“The discrepancies between the official exchange rate and the street rate are crippling businesses,” Coltart said. “Forced to use the official rate, they struggle to compete with informal traders who sell goods at lower prices.”
Coltart highlighted the City of Bulawayo’s financial strain, saying, “We suffer from having to accept payments at the official rate, further straining our finances.”
He criticized the government’s manipulation of the ZiG’s value, stating, “Trust in the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the Ministry of Finance must be restored before any new currency is introduced.”
Coltart warned, “Unless the ZiG is replaced, large sectors of industry and retail could face collapse.”
The ZiG has lost significant value, with the street rate currently at US$1: ZiG24, compared to the official rate of US$1: ZiG13.80.
“The government must take action to address this issue,” Coltart emphasized. “We cannot continue to operate with a currency that is losing value by the day.”
The ZiG is the latest Zimbabwean currency that is failing to hold its own.
Analysts have emphasized that as long as the local currency does not purchase fuel from the pump, it will not survive.
Another bone of contention is the fact that the government has vehemently refused locals to pay for a Zimbabwe passport using ZiG, this means that government is not sincere.
Once a government official claimed that it was difficult to have passports paid for in ZiG because the company contracted to make the new E-passport wanted reimbursement in the US dollars.
An old gogo from Makokoba had this to say,
“I am not learned but I know that it is possible that I pay for my passport in ZiG and then the government pays the company in US dollar.”
Zim GBC News©2024