Columnist / Victor bhoroma
Remittances anchor Zimbabwean economy
THE World Bank recently released global diaspora remittance statistics, which show that expatriates from low and middle-income countries sent over US$647 billion to their home countries in 2022....Published: 07 Jul 2023 at 07:52hrs | 15 | by Victor Bhoroma
Reflecting on the export ban for raw lithium
Through Statutory Instrument 213 of 2022 (Referend to as Base Minerals Export Control for unbeneficiated Lithium Bearing Ores), Zimbabwe banned the export of raw lithium from the country. The regulati...Published: 31 Jan 2023 at 09:12hrs | 4 | by Victor Bhoroma
Analysis of the 2023 national budget
The Zimbabwean government presented a ZW$4.5 trillion budget (21% of 2021 GDP) for the 2023 fiscal year. The government expects to collect revenues totaling ZW$3.9 billion (18% of GDP), thus resulting...Published: 16 Dec 2022 at 00:15hrs | 15 | by Victor Bhoroma
Causes of food inflation in Zimbabwe
The World Bank recently released a report of the countries hardest hit by food inflation in the world. Zimbabwe tops that list with food inflation of 353% in the month of August 2022, beating Lebanon ...Published: 16 Dec 2022 at 00:11hrs | 20 | by Victor Bhoroma
Government policy destroying the formal economy
Policy missteps and inconsistency has turned the Zimbabwean economy on its head against the formal sector, posing a threat to business continuity, domestic resource mobilization and formal employment....Published: 16 Dec 2022 at 00:06hrs | 9 | by Victor Bhoroma
Tough foreign exchange regime suffocating economy
Zimbabwe's broad money supply has grown from just under ZW$364,60 billion as of September 2021 to more than ZW$1,920 trillion as of September 2022. This represents growth of over 426% over a period of...Published: 16 Dec 2022 at 00:02hrs | 3 | by Victor Bhoroma
Zimbabwe macroeconomic priorities for 2023
Zimbabwe's treasury department presented a ZW$4.5 trillion budget (21% of 2021 GDP) for the 2023 fiscal year. The budget roughly translates to US$5.3 billion if the market exchange rate is used. As is...Published: 15 Dec 2022 at 23:53hrs | | by Victor Bhoroma
Policy flaws chasing Forex from the formal market
It is estimated that US$2.5 billion is circulating outside the formal banking system in Zimbabwe with households, businesses and foreign investors preferring to store their hard-earned foreign currenc...Published: 11 Aug 2022 at 12:05hrs | 15 | by Victor Bhoroma
Assessing the US$12 billion mining industry target
The Zimbabwean government launched an ambitious plan to transform the mining sector into a US$12 billion export industry by end of 2023. The plan was launched in October 2019 as a key pillar to sustai...Published: 11 Aug 2022 at 12:01hrs | 6 | by Victor Bhoroma
Monetary policy inconsistency sinking economy
On the 17th of May 2022, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) issued a circular cancelling the order announced by the head of state on the suspension of bank lending one week earlier. The head of state ...Published: 08 Jun 2022 at 07:19hrs | 2 | by Victor Bhoroma
Food insecurity now a perennial threat
Zimbabwe is set to import 400 000 metric tonnes (MT) of Maize from Zambia and Malawi to be delivered this June to alleviate a food crisis in the country. This will cost the country at least US$120 mil...Published: 08 Jun 2022 at 07:12hrs | 3 | by Victor Bhoroma
Why Zimbabwe's de-dollarization route flopped
The Zimbabwean government has announced measures to promote the wider use of the domestic currency (The Zimbabwean Dollar) in a last-ditch effort to save it from the re-dollarization onslaught. Part o...Published: 08 Jun 2022 at 07:08hrs | 20 | by Victor Bhoroma
IMF notes show no appetite for reform
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded its Article IV Consultation with Zimbabwe on 21 March 2022. The press release noted that real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose b...Published: 12 Apr 2022 at 16:50hrs | 3 | by Victor Bhoroma
Towards a market driven foreign exchange market
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the central bank made a press statement on the 1st of April to address the depreciation of the local currency and manage the rate of inflation in the economy. Th...Published: 12 Apr 2022 at 16:46hrs | 11 | by Victor Bhoroma
Zimbabwe economy urgently needs tax reforms
For the fourth consecutive year, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) has been exceeding budgeted quarterly and annual revenue targets (in ZW Dollar and in US Dollar terms). Even though the economy ...Published: 01 Apr 2022 at 12:40hrs | 10 | by Victor Bhoroma
IMF notes show no appetite for reform
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded its Article IV Consultation with Zimbabwe on 21 March 2022. The press release noted that real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose b...Published: 01 Apr 2022 at 12:34hrs | 1 | by Victor Bhoroma
Monetary Policy Analysis
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) presented its first monetary policy statement for 2022 on the 7th of February. The monetary policy comes after a 53.5% surge in foreign currency receipts from US$6.3...Published: 23 Feb 2022 at 19:41hrs | 13 | by Victor Bhoroma
Dutch Auction Market vs Local Allocation System
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) launched the Dutch auction system on the 23rd of June 2020 to improve transparency in the distribution of foreign currency locally. Initially the auction exchange pl...Published: 23 Feb 2022 at 19:38hrs | 4 | by Victor Bhoroma
Dutch Auction Market vs Local Allocation System
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) launched the Dutch auction system on the 23rd of June 2020 to improve transparency in the distribution of foreign currency locally. Initially the auction exchange pl...Published: 04 Feb 2022 at 15:08hrs | 3 | by Victor Bhoroma
Key expectations from upcoming monetary policy
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is expected to present the first monetary policy statement of 2022 within the next 30 days amid rising inflationary pressures. The monetary policy comes after the de...Published: 19 Jan 2022 at 11:52hrs | 1 | by Victor Bhoroma
2022 Post Budget Analysis
The Zimbabwean government presented a ZW$927.3 billion budget (18% of GDP) for the 2022 fiscal year. The government expects to collect revenues totaling ZW$850.7 billion (17% of GDP), thus resulting i...Published: 13 Dec 2021 at 09:11hrs | 9 | by Victor Bhoroma
Pegged exchange rate unsustainable
Zimbabwe's export receipts for the first 9 months of 2021 jumped 38% to US$6.10 billion from US$4.43 billion realized in the same period in 2020. Notable improvements have been realized in internation...Published: 24 Nov 2021 at 10:37hrs | 13 | by Victor Bhoroma
Policy incentives to reindustrialization lacking
Zimbabwe aspires to create an upper middle income economy with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$65 billion by 2030. This vision is premised on the reindustrialization strategy where competitivenes...Published: 24 Nov 2021 at 10:35hrs | 17 | by Victor Bhoroma
2022 National Budget Expectations
Zimbabwe's national budget for 2021 is expected to be presented within the coming 30 days amid fears of a resurgence in high levels of inflation. The country's annual inflation dropped from 363% recor...Published: 01 Nov 2021 at 14:30hrs | 11 | by Victor Bhoroma
Investment still hampered by business climate
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Zimbabwe remains very low, with the latest central bank monetary policy stating that the country received a meagre US$22.35 million in the first half of 2021. In 2...Published: 20 Oct 2021 at 18:33hrs | 3 | by Victor Bhoroma
Sustainable reforms now key to foreign exchange market
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) recently announced that it is on course to clear the backlog of foreign exchange auction allotments which date back to as far as three months and amounting to about ...Published: 08 Oct 2021 at 19:03hrs | 12 | by Victor Bhoroma
Taming inflation is an arduous task
The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) pointed that year on year (annual) inflation rate marginally increased to 51.55% in September 2021 from 50.24% in August 2021 after 8 months of straig...Published: 06 Oct 2021 at 09:13hrs | 11 | by Victor Bhoroma
Inside the cotton value chain
Cotton has been grown in Zimbabwe from as far back as 1940, even though production was enhanced after the establishment of the Cotton Marketing Board (CMB) in 1969. The white Gold is the second most i...Published: 09 Sep 2021 at 19:33hrs | 13 | by Victor Bhoroma
2021 Mid Term Monetary & Budget analysis
The latest mid-term budget and monetary policy statements were presented in a low key mode with emphasis on avoiding policy shocks that can rock the economy. The Zimbabwean government revised upwards ...Published: 01 Sep 2021 at 15:30hrs | 2 | by Victor Bhoroma
Import Substitution: A case for soya beans
For the past 10 years, Zimbabwe has produced an average of 56 000 metric tonnes (mt) of soya beans per year against national demand of 240 000 mt for food, animal feed and industrial consumption. In t...Published: 01 Sep 2021 at 15:26hrs | 32 | by Victor Bhoroma
Inefficient auction system dragging economic recovery
Zimbabwe has managed to turnaround and achieve double digit annual inflation from a periodic high of 838% realized in July 2020 to 56% achieved in July 2021. The redollarization of the local economy a...Published: 04 Aug 2021 at 15:57hrs | 3 | by Victor Bhoroma
Zimbabwe Economic Forecast H2 2021
Zimbabwe's economy is largely expected to register modest growth in 2021 buoyed by a bumper harvest in agriculture, partial dollarization and declining inflation, growth in export earnings and increas...Published: 29 Jul 2021 at 13:30hrs | 14 | by Victor Bhoroma
Eradicating extreme poverty critically essential
The World Bank Economic Update on Zimbabwe released in June 2021 contains some worrying trends on the increase in extreme poverty in the country. The report points that the number of extremely poor re...Published: 29 Jul 2021 at 13:27hrs | 12 | by Victor Bhoroma
SI 127 ghost still haunting economy
After passing Statutory Instrument (SI) 127 of 2021 on the 26th of May 2021, the Zimbabwean government made a quick summersault on the new regulations through a press statement issued by the Reserve B...Published: 14 Jul 2021 at 08:47hrs | 1 | by Victor Bhoroma
Short term risks for Zim economy
The Zimbabwean economy is expected to register modest growth this year after 2 years of successive decline when currency changes, high inflation, extreme weather conditions and COVID-19 downturn wreck...Published: 03 Jun 2021 at 20:26hrs | 1 | by Victor Bhoroma
2021 Mid-Term Budget Expectations
Zimbabwe's mid-term budget for 2021 is expected to be presented in the beginning of July amid encouraging signs of economic recovery in the last 12 months. The country is undergoing a period of relati...Published: 03 Jun 2021 at 20:21hrs | | by Victor Bhoroma
Privatization plans off rails
In November 2018, the Zimbabwean government set out a privatization plan to dispose completely and partially privatize over 23 state entities and parastatals (SEPs). According to the Auditor General R...Published: 07 May 2021 at 15:41hrs | 2 | by Victor Bhoroma
Excessive taxation driving fuel prices up
On the 5th of April, the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) announced new pump price ceilings for fuel on the local market. The maximum pump price for Diesel is now ZW$111.77 per litre, up fr...Published: 19 Apr 2021 at 09:09hrs | | by Victor Bhoroma
Unresolved economic issues for 2021
The Zimbabwean economy has experienced a period of relative stability since October 2020, even though multiple reforms have to be implemented to attain sustained economic growth. To a larger extent th...Published: 19 Apr 2021 at 09:05hrs | 2 | by Victor Bhoroma
Central bank and monetary policy independence
The government of Zimbabwe recently dissolved the inaugural Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) that had been appointed in September 2019 and swiftly appointed a new team to fill up the void. The committe...Published: 09 Mar 2021 at 22:34hrs | 3 | by Victor Bhoroma
Taming high inflation, economic priority
Despite the significant fall in annual inflation from 363% (In January) to 322% for the month of February 2021, prices for goods and services in the economy continue to increase marginally in every mo...Published: 09 Mar 2021 at 22:31hrs | 1 | by Victor Bhoroma
Road infrastructure decay needs policy change
The pace of Zimbabwe's road infrastructure decay has reached alarming levels which call for a policy change by the government. The country's major highways and urban roads have become a living hazard ...Published: 16 Feb 2021 at 14:34hrs | 3 | by Victor Bhoroma
Proudly made in Zimbabwe
The advent of globalization has demonstrated that each country has expertise in a certain trade and there are commodities that resonate with certain countries more than others. It is often argued that...Published: 02 Feb 2021 at 00:25hrs | 5 | by Victor Bhoroma
Poor grain production hurting Zimbabwe economy
Zimbabwe has been a net importer of food for the past 2 decades and the country's import bill has increasingly featured grain imports with maize imports averaging 1.1 million Metric Tonnes (MT) per ye...Published: 25 Jan 2021 at 13:18hrs | 1 | by Victor Bhoroma
Exchange control regulations and export growth
The monetary policy committee for the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) issued a circular with changes to export surrender requirements on the 7th of January 2021. The changes include immediately removin...Published: 20 Jan 2021 at 06:30hrs | 1 | by Victor Bhoroma
Zimbabwe's economic outlook for 2021
Zimbabwe's economy ended the year 2020 on a fairly stable note due to the return of the multi-currency regime and decline in general inflation levels in the market. Headwinds caused by incessant power...Published: 08 Jan 2021 at 21:02hrs | 1 | by Victor Bhoroma
The soft peg and local economic stability
Zimbabwe introduced the Dutch inspired foreign exchange auction system on the 23th of June to replace the fixed exchange rate (hard peg) of US$1: ZW$25 that had been in existence since 26 March 2020. ...Published: 08 Jan 2021 at 20:58hrs | 4 | by Victor Bhoroma
Economic growth stimulus precedes taxation
Zimbabwe's 2021 national budget paints a picture of sustained austerity in the mid-term, with increases in taxes for various sectors of the depressed economy. A 126% jump in budgeted tax revenue colle...Published: 22 Dec 2020 at 19:28hrs | 12 | by Victor Bhoroma
2021 National Budget: The Good & the Bad
Zimbabwe's 2021 national budget set a taxing agenda with a 126% jump in budgeted revenues from ZW$173 billion (About US$2.12 billion) anticipated in 2020 to ZW$391.8 billion (US$4.8 billion) budgeted ...Published: 14 Dec 2020 at 13:54hrs | 1 | by Victor Bhoroma
Sector priorities for NDS implementation
Zimbabwe launched its new 5 year economic blueprint called the National Development Strategy (NDS-1) on 16 November 2020. The new plan succeeds the Transitional Stabilization Programme (TSP) that ends...Published: 01 Dec 2020 at 09:17hrs | 9 | by Victor Bhoroma
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