Loving the RBZ is a hard job

20 Days after drastic measures. I’m still left asking questions, is the RBZ really on to something?

So its May 7 and we wake up to banks not being able to function according to their operational definition. Banks have long changed from lending and interest charging as their main business model but this is the first time the reserve demanded it not be.

Go into the future by 10 days and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has removed the blanket ban on corporate and corporate-public lending.

In a functional country you would think something is about to pour out the kettle right? Right?

10 more days and its May 27. The RBZ has largely been quiet on the issue, possibly hoping we forget. It’s been 20 days after the drastic measures were chugged down our throats. I’m still going to sleep wondering whether the RBZ is really on to something.

What we know

When the RBZ suspension landed there was much talk about who the RBZ’s scape goat was going to be this time around. It had to be big, effectively suspending half of the country’s operational structures is no mean feat. The best we’ve got is this:

Now this makes me angry because this is no threat to anyone in particular. It’s no insight into who the bank may be investigating let alone if progress is being made. If the RBZ can not take the manipulators of the exchange rate to court, what will publishing the names of  ‘significant borrowers’ do? Let twitter deal with them? What’s definite is the fact that the RBZ has not shown its winning points in this battle.

To justify the suspension the government claimed “investigative procedure” to be underway. At best this might be the largest investigation, spanning all lending platforms exposing the deep rot of the corporate system manipulating and exploiting the Zimbabwean citizens. It might just be the panacea we need to halt inflation.

At worst, which is becoming more the likely by the day, the RBZ fluked in an attempt to shake up the black market. Leaving investors, businesses and the wider populace a little too scared to take a breather and work progressively. 

Mirror mirror on the wall

Coming to think of it, the RBZ’s main objective here is to curtail inflation by the reduction of broad money supply. Mainly through control of new money supply by lending within the macro-economy. Does that not sound like the September 2021 measures whereby new measures were introduced to deal with black market traders, the announcement of which also came with a slew of names of the condemned?

The wording of both cases is erringly similar. It just might be a case of same cake different number. Will that give us better results if this time the condemned are companies rather than private citizens? I don’t think so, then again I don’t work within the RBZ nor the perpetrators offices to come up with a verdict I’d die on. These are simply the thoughts of a young Zimbabwean.

A reason for prayer

I may be forever new to high level talk about how the Zimbabwean economy functions, the governor and friends seem to be trying to figure that out too. What I’m not new to however is government rhetoric against ‘unscrupulous businesses and individuals’ working against the country. 

I am not new to the slew of measure and pseudo laws that come into the litter box just after. The result, the same cyclical slowed then accelerated inflation further crippling sons and daughters of this torn bread basket. I don’t pray but this may be a reason for all prayer. My vote may not be enough to change the cycle due to pitfalls of this debt laden system.

Watching and listening to my people bemoan being born in this country already has me on my knees, singlehanded religiousness feels convincing at this point.

I listen because I have a dying hope in this country. I write because I don’t understand the system that governs this country.

 

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