The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) allotted US$ 99.6 million from the auction system to local companies in June, latest figures from the Bank shows.
Despite having challenges with timeous settlement of winning bids creating a backlog of almost 10 weeks at one point owing to foreign currency supply deficit, the auction has been critical in channeling funds to productive sectors of the economy.
“A list of the 505 beneficiaries of US$84 047 923 (were) allotted under the Main Foreign Exchange Auction during the month of June 2022. A list of the 1 565 beneficiaries of US$15 548 223 allotted under the SMEs Foreign Exchange Auction during the month of June 2022,” the Central Bank said.
The bulk of the auction allotments during the month of June 2022 (72%) was for payment for raw materials (US$49 233 556) and machinery and equipment (US$23 271 992), with the remaining 28% of the total allotments going towards payment for consumables (US$7 354 069), services (US$6 129 904), retail and distribution (US$6 030 419), pharmaceuticals and chemicals (US$4 198 562), packaging (US$3 043 267) and fuel, electricity and gas (US$334 378).
Total cumulative foreign exchange auction allotments since inception of the Foreign Exchange Auction System stand at US$3 337 081 420.
The total foreign exchange payments for the period January 2022 to June 2022, by source, amounting to US$3 783 072 583 broken down as follows: – (i) foreign currency accounts (US$2 954 720 393), (ii) Foreign Exchange Auction Allotments (US$740 700 607); and (iii) the interbank market (US$87 651 584).
