[2008-05-06]  Banking institutions still to deal in forex
Banking institutions had by Friday not started buying and selling foreign currency on the willing- buyer-willing-seller basis saying they were still to receive direction from the central bank on how the rates would be pegged.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr Gideon Gono announced on Wednesday last week during his presentation of the first quarter monetary policy statement for 2008, that each bank would display the average buying and selling prices for foreign currency as part of new measures to liberalise the distorted exchange rates.
For a long time Zimbabwe has been operating on a two-tier foreign currency exchange system — the formal and the informal market.
The formal market had fixed rates set by the central bank while the informal market involved illegal dealers whose exchange rates fluctuated depending on demand.
Due to the scenarios, the gap between the rates was continuing to widen disadvantaging a number of people.
A survey by Business Chronicle on Friday indicated that the banks were still to come up with a workable system of pegging the buying and selling rates.
At CFX bank in Bulawayo, rates displayed still indicated that the bank was buying the US dollar at $30 000.
An official at the CBZ said the institution was still waiting for communication from the central bank on how to price the foreign currency.
“We have not received any communication pertaining to that and we have not yet started the willing-buying willing-selling scheme. Like anyone else we just heard it but there has not been any formal communication,” said the official.
Other commercial banks in the city had also not started buying and selling foreign currency.
Even the central bank was as of Friday indicating on its website that the interbank rates were still pegged at US$1 to $30 000.
An economic analyst said although the liberalisation of the exchange rates was the major highlight of the monetary policy, its impact was still to be felt.
“As of now I have not checked what the interbank rates are but I have not seen the impact of the scheme,” he said.
Source: (C)2008 Chronicle limited