The Zimbabwe Republicans Front (ZRF) has called on the government to ‘totally’ dollarise the economy and remove the faltering Zimbabwean dollar in order to avoid reverting to the pre-2008 scenario of hyperinflation which led to food shortages.
Despite the Zimbabwean dollar’s depreciation, the government has urged citizens to embrace the local currency because the country cannot support a fully dollarised economy.
However, leader of the ZRF, Fanuel Lisenga said the prevailing economic situation in Zimbabwe right now called for full dollarisation, as the price distortions were caused by the depreciation of the local Zimbabwean currency.
“If you look at the situation right now, we must dollarise. The forex which is circulating might not be enough but if the government is managing like now to pay civil servants an allowance US$250, it’s a good starting point,” he said, noting that the Zimbabwean dollar has lost most of its value compared to the US dollar yet when it was introduced the government claimed the exchange rate was the same.
Lisenga said once the Zimbabwean economy dollarised, the government can then peg salaries they could afford to pay as everyone would be having access to forex.
“They can dollarise and come up with a salary structure they can manage to pay. The government can also try by all means to appeal to other wellwishers because if we fail to dollarise because they said they have no capacity we are going to end up in the 2008 era where we had hyperinflation and galloping inflation,” said the ZRF leader.
“There will be long queues and no one wants to be reminded of such a scenario. I still insist dollarisation will be a good starting point for us to run away from the misery and problems that we are facing in the Republic of Zimbabwe.”
Meanwhile in his news column in a state controlled weekly newspaper, President Emmerson Mnangagwa blamed the recent local currency devaluation on businesses taking advantage of cheap foreign currency and sabotaging the government’s reputation in the run up to elections.
He repeated the same sentiments during his address at the 369th Ordinary Session of the Politburo in Harare on Tuesday, claiming external forces were to blame for the country’s economic woes.
The president alleged that asymmetrical warfare tactics including attacks on the currency and increases in the prices of basic commodities and those found perpetuating such would be arrested.
