…seen rising between $11-12bn in 2022
By ETimes
Foreign currency receipts in Zimbabwe have increased by 38% to $8.4 billion over the past nine months, compared to $6.1 billion during the same time last year, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya said on Friday.
The majority of the country’s foreign currency earnings stemmed from exports, diaspora remittances, and development partner support.
Mangudya told a parliament 2023 pre budget seminar in the capital that the foreign currency situation of the country is very stable.
This comes after realising a positive balance of $2.3 billion as of September.
“That money is sitting on the banks at $1.4 billion, with nearly a billion dollars in loans and overdrafts from foreign currency that banks have given to their customers,” he said.
“So the banks are doing very robustly to assist the customers.”
In the period, the country’s export proceeds increased to $5.4 billion from $4.1 billion in the comparative period last year. In the first 9 months of the year, remittances stood at $1.2 billion, compared to $1 billion in the same period last year. The embassies and NGOs brought in $860 million in the first 9 months of the year, compared to $780 million last year.
Foreign investments have also gone up from $53 million to $131 million this year. All this gives a breakdown of $8.4 billion. A growth of 25% on a year-on-year basis as at September.
The southern African nation recorded its highest ever foreign currency receipts of $9.7 billion in 2021, up by 53.5% from 2020.
“We are expecting this year to be above that, maybe around $11 billion-$12 billion by the end of the year,” said Mangudya.
“So our balance of position has remained strong and is expected to remain strong in the next year as we go into 2023 we are going to make a surplus position on the current account.” – Harare