The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe yesterday released the 2022 Monetary Policy Statement (MPS). The central bank laid out a number of new measures and here are the highlights from the document.
New Mobile Money limits
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has revised the mobile money limits for person-to-business from ZWL$20,000 to ZWL$25,000 with an overall limit of ZWL$100,000 a week. The person to person limit was doubled to ZWL$10,000 with a limit of ZWL$70,000 a week.
Additionally, the withdrawal limit for banks was increased to ZWL$5,000
US$50 Bureau de Change
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) introduced a US$50 facility for individuals to access forex from Bureaux de Change at the auction-rate in Q3, 2021. A total amount of US$23.1 million was disbursed to 461 908 individuals as of 31 December 2021. This facility as small as it is, was there to meet the demand for USD for the general public who don’t have access to the Foreign Exchange Auction.
However, the RBZ in the MPS noted that there were abuses of the facility and the central bank said the following as to the refinements to the US$50 facility
“In this regard, the Bank is refining the US$50 Facility, with immediate effect, to limit it to the vulnerable members of the society, that is pensioners, senior citizens, people living with disability and those requiring forex for medical purposes.”
RBZ Monetary Policy Statement 2022
RBZ is still looking into crypto but its not what you think…
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe reaffirmed its position on crypto saying that it is looking to a central bank digital currency (CBDC) as opposed to adopting cryptocurrencies. A CBDC is essentially a one-is-to-one variant/representation of fiat or conventional currency.
“A CBDC is an electronic record or digital token of a country’s official currency. As such, it is issued and regulated by the nation’s monetary authority or central bank. As such, they are backed by the full faith and credit of the issuing government.”
Investopedia
In the 2022 Monetary Policy Statement (MPS), the RBZ says that it is still planning out a roadmap for its version of a CBDC.
Remittances continue upward
“Diaspora remittances amount to US$1.430 billion, a 43% increase from US$1.002 billion received during the same period in the year 2020”
RBZ Monetary Policy Statement 2022
Remittances continued an upward trend which is something that they were on course to do because, in the 2021 Mid-Term Monetary Policy Statement, remittances were up by a record 73% from the figure recorded in the same period in 2020.
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3 comments
So what is the difference between these CBDCs and the electronic money that we already have and barely exchange for physical currency? Please educate us.
The CBDC does it follow the same principles that founded cryptos
US$50 Bureau de Change, should be processed electronically via USSD or bank application where there is a paper trail