Statement From RBZ Governor Says All Is Well; If He Is Speaking To Us It Actually Means Things Are Not Well

The RBZ has issued a press statement signed by their boss, Dr John P. Mangudya. Here it is:

PRESS STATEMENT
DRAW DOWN OF FOREIGN CURRENCY FROM USD500 MILLION LINES OF CREDIT FOR PROCUREMENT OF ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (the “Bank”) wishes to advise members of the public that it has started drawing down foreign currency from the US$500 million lines of credit advised in the Monetary Policy Statement issued by the Bank last week. As advised, the purpose of the facilities is to fund the procurement of essential commodities including fuel, electricity, wheat and raw materials for the manufacturing of cooking oil and packaging.

The Bank released US$40 million for the procurement of fuel on Friday, the 5th of October, 2018 and the fuel is currently being supplied and delivered to the various filling stations and supply points across the market. The Bank is grateful to the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe for working round the clock to ensure that the fuel is delivered to the oil marketing companies across the country.

In view of these positive developments, the Bank would like to assure the public that there is sufficient fuel available in the country and therefore there is no need for panic-buying of fuel and other essential commodities.

The Bank has noted that increase of prices of certain goods has followed the spike in foreign currency parallel market rates which is being caused by some people bent to dupe the public of their hard earned income. The opportunists are manipulating foreign currency parallel market rates to cause unnecessary panic and despondency and destabilisation of the economy. Such counterproductive behaviour is unwarranted and should be condemned by all peace loving Zimbabweans.

The Bank would also like to reassure the public of that the multi-currency system will remain in use and the Bank shall continue to secure lines of credit to supplement the country’s foreign currency earnings from exports and diaspora remittances in order to support the entire economy.

Dr J P Mangudya

Governor

7 October 2018

Positive developments?

Isn’t it funny that the governor has used that phrase to describe what he is saying. When the governor of the central bank issues a statement talking about cooking oil and wheat and fuel that is yet to be delivered after drawing down on a debt of a few million dollars, that cannot be described as a positive development.

I bet in a lot of countries the citizens do not know or care to know who the central bank boss is because things are running smoothly. A friend once gave me a very good analogy: the sound engineer analogy. No one knows there is a sound engineer managing a sound desk in an auditorium when the sound engineer is doing a good job. The moment things go wrong that’s when the sound engineer gets the spotlight.

Mangudya is not talking to us because things are well. When they are well he would be in church or wherever he spends time on a Sunday like this. He is talking to us because things are not well. I am not saying you’all need to panic and buy every little thing in truckloads but I am saying the rhetoric must change. The authorities should acknowledge exactly where we are and what they are doing about it and we will support those efforts. This idea of PR spins ain’t gonna work, it makes us distrust everything else they say.

Villain opportunists manipulating everything

It is insulting for VaMangudya to say what he said regarding price increases. This was Mugabe’s stance: when something was wrong there was a villain somewhere pulling strings. Prices are increasing because there is a differential in the value of money depending on the type of money that one has. The governor knows this.

We deserve to be respected and not taken as stupid people who believe whatever the spin doctor brews. The differential in the value of money is because Zimbabwe is using a currency it doesn’t generate yet it does not export enough to actually generate that currency. Instead of Zimbabwe then sticking to spending what it gets, Zimbabwe’s government spends magnitudes more than that and then pays for those services including salaries in electronic figures pulled out of the hat.

Dilution of USD

In the monetary policy statement Mangudya is referring to above, he declared separation of accounts into one for real USD and another for his made up money so that the made up money would not dilute the real USD he said. It’s infuriating because it was him and his bosses who diluted our money in the first place. He has to acknowledge that, ask for our forgiveness and then tell us what’s going on. He should not to invent villains.

Does he want to go down that road?

Does Dr Mangudya really want to point to villains? Let’s not talk about nameless people bent on inciting despondency and destabilising… We know who the villains are no matter what their intentions were, they are the ones who destabilised and caused despondency.

The results of a witch hunt are not good for the RBZ, let’s leave it at that.

Respect and nothing but

Like I said, I am not writing so readers will go and raid supermarkets. I am writing to remind the governor that truth is what sets free. Respect us and we will listen to what you advise us to do. If there is some reprieve coming from the bottomless $500 million pit just say so but please don’t mix that with Mugabe style rhetoric.