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World Bank hails Zimbabwe's tight Monetary Policy stance
14 Dec 2023 at 03:57hrs | Views
THE World Bank (WB) has commended the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) for putting in place a tight Monetary Policy alongside other interventions which have managed to ease inflationary pressures.
The latest WB report titled, "Zimbabwe Economic Update" acknowledges that the country's economy has seen a strong rebound since the COVID-19 pandemic on the back of adequate policy measures.
It credits policy tightening saying it has improved macroeconomic stability on the back of accelerated economic activity despite global challenges and underscored that the nation was one of the fastest growing economies in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in 2021, 2022 and, so far, also in 2023.
"The RBZ has been proactive in tightening monetary policy; increasing reserve requirements for the banking sector, and raising the bank policy lending rate. Furthermore, reserve money growth was curbed by issuing non-negotiable certificates of deposits (NNCDs) and Gold-Backed Digital Tokens to absorb excess Zimbabwe dollars.
"This has helped to bring down inflation and the parallel market premium. The Government has also extended the use of US dollars as legal tender until 2030, further reducing policy uncertainty," says the WB in part.
The global financier also acknowledged the recent moves by the RBZ which saw the recommendation to remove the 10% cap over and above the exchange rate saying if adopted, the directive will present an important step to further liberalization of the foreign exchange market.
"Finally, the financial sector remains adequately capitalized, with non-performing loans (NPLs) at very low levels. The financial sector has significant capital reserves¹² and is able to withstand unexpected shocks or losses.
"Banking institutions remain compliant with the prescribed minimum capital adequacy ratio of 12% and tier 1 ratio of 8%, although the recapitalization of all banks has still to be completed.
"Average NPLs remain minimal, estimated at 1, 58% of banking sector loans in December 2022, but this is against limited bank intermediation," WB added.
The latest WB report titled, "Zimbabwe Economic Update" acknowledges that the country's economy has seen a strong rebound since the COVID-19 pandemic on the back of adequate policy measures.
It credits policy tightening saying it has improved macroeconomic stability on the back of accelerated economic activity despite global challenges and underscored that the nation was one of the fastest growing economies in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in 2021, 2022 and, so far, also in 2023.
"The RBZ has been proactive in tightening monetary policy; increasing reserve requirements for the banking sector, and raising the bank policy lending rate. Furthermore, reserve money growth was curbed by issuing non-negotiable certificates of deposits (NNCDs) and Gold-Backed Digital Tokens to absorb excess Zimbabwe dollars.
"This has helped to bring down inflation and the parallel market premium. The Government has also extended the use of US dollars as legal tender until 2030, further reducing policy uncertainty," says the WB in part.
The global financier also acknowledged the recent moves by the RBZ which saw the recommendation to remove the 10% cap over and above the exchange rate saying if adopted, the directive will present an important step to further liberalization of the foreign exchange market.
"Finally, the financial sector remains adequately capitalized, with non-performing loans (NPLs) at very low levels. The financial sector has significant capital reserves¹² and is able to withstand unexpected shocks or losses.
"Banking institutions remain compliant with the prescribed minimum capital adequacy ratio of 12% and tier 1 ratio of 8%, although the recapitalization of all banks has still to be completed.
"Average NPLs remain minimal, estimated at 1, 58% of banking sector loans in December 2022, but this is against limited bank intermediation," WB added.
Source - newzimbabwe
