The ManicaPost
Samuel Kadungure
Senior Reporter
AT least US$6 billion has been injected into the local economy from export earnings over the past nine months, while local bank deposits shot to US$1.7 billion, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor, Dr John Mangudya, has said.
He made the revelations while addressing the 36th edition of the Institute of People’s Management of Zimbabwe (IMPZ) symposium in Nyanga last week.
Dr Mangudya said the central bank and the banking sector had at least US$2.8 billion in circulation.
The symposium was a platform for human resources practitioners to identify challenges on productivity and proffer relevant solutions. He said RBZ was working hard to stabilise prices of basic commodities, and financial services in the country to hedge demand for salary increases.
“What we have done as an economy over the past year is very tremendous. This economy has improved by more than 7.8 percent, and will continue to be resilient in the medium to long-term. We are expecting this economy to come with enough foreign currency. Over the past eight months, this economy received foreign currency around US$6 billion.
“The banking sector deposits (in foreign currency) are around US$1.7 billion, which is over and above the US$1 billion we received from the International Monetary Fund (IFM). The banking sector, and RBZ have more than US$2.8 billion. The economy’s fundamentals are good.”
He said the bulk of the forex injection came from mining, agriculture and Diaspora remittances.
“We also appreciate work that was done in agriculture this past year. For over 10 years we have been importing. This year, Zimbabwe has a surplus of the staple maize. We are looking to nine months of local supply of wheat.
“On account of agriculture, mining sector, balance of payment, and the global economy that is also improving, Zimbabwe’s economy will continue to improve,” said Dr Mangudya.
The RBZ chief said workers were constantly demanding better salaries due to the adverse effects of inflation which erode value of money.
“The reason workers demand salary increase is because of loss of value for money. If there was no inflation, no one would ask for salary increases.
“There will be no reason for increasing salaries, but because of the adverse effects of inflation, workers will always ask for salary increases. That is why, as the Central Bank, our key focus is to achieve, and stabilise prices and financial services.
So, if we see inflation going up, caused by external forces like parallel market exchange rate, we really get worried.
“We are concerned because the economy’s fundamentals are strong, but the behaviour on the parallel market is worrisome. The disparity in exchange rates is fuelled by past experiences. The experience of the hyperinflationary era of 2006 and 2008 makes people afraid of inflation. Also, because of the past experience of dollarisation in 2009 people had the two worlds of local currency hyperinflation, and stability brought by the use of the US$. So, people prefer to hold onto the US$ to store value.
“That is why there is high demand for foreign currency. They are doing it for a profit, but it is not good for business, and consumers because you cannot plan,” he said.
Dr Mangudya applauded human resources for playing a critical role in the economy.
“It is a critical, and the most important factor of production. It contributes to the economic growth of any economy in the world.
“We need to rethink, re-examine and re-assess human resources management under the new normal of Covid-19, and post Covid-19 because people are the strategic assets of any organisation.
“Covid-19 has resulted in the loss of lives, jobs, working hours, and livelihoods. The informal sector of the economy was affected; people were locked down, and lost income.
“The pandemic has brought new risks and opportunities.
“We have seen a number of changes brought by Covid-19 like the adoption of technology to work from remote places, including provision of banking services away from banking halls, and ability of employers to fulfil their operations, and rationalise manpower as a cost containment measure.
“The impact of Covid-19 also forced us to review our operations, thus reducing costs, especially travel costs. Most organisations had very high budgets for travel,” he said.
IPMZ president, Mr Cleopas Chiketa, outlined how, despite the Covid-19 challenges, increased productivity will positively affect employment trends, and economic growth.
“We are hosting our 36th edition of the HR symposium.
“The focus is on rethinking HR towards a new hybrid workplace where we are looking at remote workplaces, but also people going to work.
“The issue is on raising productivity and managing performance. We are looking at redesigning, and re-looking the workplace environment. We looked at vaccination, and what organisations need to do to embrace sustainability,” he said.
