HARARE
–
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa
on
Thursday
brought
forward
by
a
month
the
appointment
of
John
Mushayavanhu
as
the
new
Reserve
Bank
of
Zimbabwe
governor,
hoping
to
stem
the
collapse
of
the
local
currency.
The
official
exchange
rate
moved
from
US$1
:
ZWL$6,000
in
January
to
ZWL$20,000
on
March
27,
meaning
the
Zimbabwe
dollar
has
lost
more
than
70
percent
of
its
value.
It
is
trading
north
of
ZWL$30,000
on
the
widely-used
parallel
market.
In
a
special
notice
published
in
the
government
gazette
on
Thursday,
finance
minister
Mthuli
Ncube
said:
“It
is
hereby
notified
that
the
president
has
appointed
John
Mushayavanhu
as
the
governor
of
the
Reserve
Bank
of
Zimbabwe
for
a
period
of
five
years
beginning
on
March
28,
2024,
and
ending
on
March
27,
2029.”
Mnangagwa
announce
last
December
that
Mushayavanhu,
who
was
CEO
of
FBC
bank,
would
replace
John
Mangudya
when
the
latter’s
term
expires
at
the
end
of
April.
The
decision
to
bring
forward
the
appointment
appears
aimed
at
stemming
the
depreciation
of
the
local
currency
amid
delays
by
the
central
bank
in
making
a
long
overdue
monetary
policy
statement.
The
monetary
policy
statement
had
reportedly
become
a
major
source
of
haggling
between
Mangudya
and
Mushayavanhu,
with
the
latter
demanding
greater
influence
as
it
would
be
left
to
him
to
implement
whatever
policies
Mangudya
dictated.
On
Wednesday,
the
Zimbabwe
National
Statistics
Agency
announced
that
annual
inflation
quickened
to
55.3
percent
this
month
from
47.6
percent
in
February
–
a
seven-month
high.
Ncube
has
pledged
to
address
price
increases
that
are
being
fueled
by
the
free-falling
currency.
His
deputy
David
Mnangagwa
said
Thursday
that
currency
stabilisation
measures
were
“around
the
corner.”
“We
have
been
receiving
enquiries
about
the
surge
in
the
exchange
rate,
which
right
now
can
be
attributed
to
the
anxiety
and
anticipation
of
the
upcoming
monetary
policy
statement
which
is
around
the
corner,”
Mnangagwa
said.
“If
I
were
to
irresponsibly
give
unsolicited
advice,
I
would
urge
Zimbabweans
with
their
hard-earned
ZWL
not
to
hedge
against
it.
The
government
is
committed
to
ensuring
that
there
will
be
no
loss
of
value
through
the
introduction
of
currency
stabilisation
measures.”
The
local
currency
was
relaunched
in
2019
after
a
decade
of
dollarisation,
but
it
rapidly
lost
value
and
authorities
reauthorised
the
use
of
foreign
currencies
in
domestic
transactions
soon
after.
The
central
bank
and
finance
ministry
said
last
month
they
were
working
on
measures
to
stabilise
the
currency,
and
were
considering
linking
the
exchange
rate
to
the
price
of
gold
among
other
possible
measures.
The
World
Bank
earlier
this
month
urged
authorities
to
make
fiscal
and
monetary
policy
more
predictable
to
instil
confidence
in
the
depreciating
currency.
“Policy
predictability…
the
improvements
that
are
being
made
moving
away
from
quasi-fiscal
operations,
all
of
that
will
contribute
to
building
greater
confidence,”
the
World
Bank’s
Regional
Vice
President
for
Eastern
and
Southern
Africa
Victoria
Kwakwa
said
in
Harare.