JANUARY 2016

MONETARY POLICY STATEMENT


BY

DR. J. P. MANGUDYA
GOVERNOR
RESERVE BANK OF ZIMBABWE

“ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION THROUGH
TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY”

TABLE OF CONTENTS


LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 19: 47

LIST OF TABLES
Table 8:

Table 13: Proposed Advise on Measures to Improve Ease of Doing Business & Increase Exports....92

SECTION 1
INTRODUCTION

This Monetary Policy Statement is issued in terms of Section 46 of the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe Act [Chapter 22:15]. The strategies and prudential policy
measures in this Statement are intended to transform the economy through
rebalancing it away from being a consumptive or supermarket economy to
a productive one; and away from the high incidence of capital flight
characterised by the externalisation of export sales proceeds to one that
safeguards its hard earned foreign exchange resources. This is necessary in
order to give impetus to effectively deal with the negative inflation (or deflation)
environment besetting the economy. Rebalancing the economy would also need
to involve transformation in human capabilities in terms of mind set, to move
away from the current short-termism approach besetting the national economy to
long-term strategies that include harnessing of youth and creation of jobs.

Whilst comprehensive economic transformation is a daunting task in view of the
current impediments that include adverse developments in the global economy,
external shocks due to climate change, an expensive U.S. dollar, etc, Government
has made major strides towards embracing economic transformation. The
milestones or strides include the 10 point economic reform agenda, rapid results
approach framework for the ease of doing business, banking sector reforms,
business friendly indigenisation frameworks and the re-engagement and external
debt clearance initiative.

Transformation, like charity, begins at home. It requires national collective
responsibility to transform from within in order to stimulate the economy through
plugging gaps and loopholes. This is the best way to boost confidence and
enhance liquidity within the national economy. We have, as a nation, lot of room

for improvement on this front. Illicit financial flows (IFFs) are our major
leaks. The issue is not necessarily that too little money flows into Zimbabwe.
Rather it is what consumers and businesses do with that money. Too often it is
spent on unproductive uses, IFFs (trade mispricing, externalising of export sales
proceeds and remittance of unproductive and unsanctioned investments), etc.
Such funds leave Zimbabwe without circulating in the economy. We are
exporting liquidity. We therefore need a national “plugging the leakages
approach” to transform the economy. To plug the economy from IFFs, tax
evasion, porous border posts, smuggling and non-repayment of loans. This needs
high level of self-discipline and compliance to non-negotiable values of
transparency and accountability.

Transparency and accountability in the utilisation of scarce financial
resources is very necessary to make sure that money circulates within the
economy for public good and economic transformation. According to Lynne
Twist “money is only useful when it is moving and flowing, contributed and
shared, directed and invested in that which is life affirming”. This assertion
by Lynne Twist is fundamental to the Zimbabwean economy. We need, as a
nation, to apply money efficiently and legitimately in order to make it
circulate i.e. “moving and flowing” as observed by Lynne Twist in her book,
“The Soul of Money”.

This Monetary Policy Statement therefore presents the Reserve Bank’s (the
“Bank” or “RBZ”) response to foster its key mandate of financial sector and price
stability within the context of the above imperatives. This mandate would be
achieved, inter alia, by;

i.
enforcing discipline in the utilisation of financial resources within the
multi-currency system;

ii.
promoting financial inclusion;
iii.
addressing the cost of finance; and
iv.
giving direction to the financial sector on the implementation of the
socially and economically desirable value chain principle of the
indigenisation and economic empowerment policy framework.

The Bank is convinced that a conducive financial environment encourages
savings mobilisation, productive investment and international competitiveness of
domestic producers and, thus, contributes towards the broader national objective
of sustainable economic diversification and transformation as envisaged under
Zim Asset.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Bank has no objection with the bonafide uses of
money or foreign exchange by both individuals and business. What we are very
much against and deeply concerned about is the abuse of hard earned financial
resources through illicit financial flows (or capital flight), smuggling and
misappropriation of bank loans. Remittance of dividends and profits, for
example, is bonafide but the remittance of revenue is not at all bonafide. These
nefarious activities are short- circuiting or draining the financial system and
creating liquidity shortages. We cannot carry on like this as a country. We need
to draw a line in the sand and never cross it. We need to go back to basics.

Developing prudential policy measures to deal with the above narratives is
therefore critical to address the major challenges facing the national economy of
unemployment, tight liquidity, lack of capital formation and lack of confidence.

The current scenario in Zimbabwe, for example, where firms, especially those in
the extractive sectors, and individuals are externalizing funds including export
sales proceeds defies economic logic. This situation, which is not sustainable,

requires the Bank to put in place prudential measures that aim to enforce
discipline and transparency in the use of scarce financial resources, minimise
economic haemorrhage from capital flight (or illicit financial flows), mitigate
systemic risk, reduce business cycle volatility, increase liquidity, increase
macroeconomic stability and enhance social welfare. Prudent measures are
critical for economic transformation and to improve transparency and
accountability by closing gaps and loopholes arising from inconsistencies and
inadequate prudential measures.

Given the positive correlation between financial inclusion and economic
developments, the Bank shall also unveil in this Statement policy interventions
to promote financial inclusivity and proper functioning of the financial system.
Financial inclusion or inclusive financing is the delivery of financial services at
affordable costs to sectors of disadvantaged and low income segments of society.
The United Nations defines the goals of financial inclusion as follows:

i.
Access at reasonable cost by all households to a full range of financial
services, including savings or deposits, payment and transfer services,
credit and insurance;
ii.
Sound and safe institutions governed by clear regulation and industry
performance standards;
iii.
Financial and institutional sustainability to ensure continuity and certainty
of investment; and
iv.
Competition to ensure choice and affordability for consumers.

The Bank, together with numerous stakeholders, have put in place a financial
inclusion strategy that we believe would go a long way to help people improve
their lives.

Similarly, the Bank is continuing with efforts to address the cost of doing business
in this country through reviewing the interest rate guidelines. The review is also
intended to encourage the banking public to entrust banks with their funds and/or
savings.

The recently publicised indigenisation policy frameworks constitute a significant
milestone in the history of the country. The frameworks are business friendly.
They are promotive of investment. They are flexible and clear to put into practice.
This Statement shall provide direction on the implementation of the socially and
economically desirable principle of the indigenisation and economic
empowerment policy framework in as far as it relates to the financial sector and
the applicability of the compliance and empowerment levy where applicable.

In view of the foregoing, the key purpose of this Monetary Policy Statement is to
provide policy direction for transforming the national economy to a productive
and disciplined one through;

i.
Prudential measures to deal with market indiscipline and imperfection
known as the pecuniary externality in an open economy in order to curb
the destabilisation effect of illicit financial flows, smuggling and or capital
flight;
ii.
Financial inclusion strategies to promote the availability of banking and
payment services to the entire population without discrimination;
iii.
Financial intermediation policies to promote the efficient allocation of
financial resources;
iv.
Enhancement of the multi-currency system to promote trading of the other
currencies in the basket; and
v.
Provision of policy advice on the resuscitation of an Economic Crimes
Court, revitalisation of agriculture and ease of doing business.

The rest of this Monetary Policy Statement is organised as follows; Section 2
discusses global economic developments in order to give the regional and
international context that heavily influences economic developments in
Zimbabwe. Section 3 discusses Zimbabwe balance of payments developments.
Section 4 looks at the developments in the financial sector. Section 5 discusses
inflation developments. Section 6 analyses the impact of policy measures
implemented by the Bank in its quest to develop monetary policy tools outside
the conventional tools. Section 7 looks at the financial sector regulatory
framework. Section 8 presents the national financial inclusion strategy. Section 9
provides policy measures to transform the economy. Section 10 discusses policy
advice in line with Section 6 (g) of the RBZ Act [Chapter 22:15]. Section 11 is
the Conclusion.

SECTION 2
GLOBAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS

Global economic activity in 2015 continued to face elevated financial market
volatility and a marked slowdown in developing and emerging market economies.
In particular, lingering uncertainty that preceded the U.S. interest rate increase
depressed global economic activity for the greater part of 2015. In the Eurozone,
global economic activity remained uneven, as economies such as the United
Kingdom (UK) somewhat recovered.

On the other hand, developing and emerging market economies, particularly China,
Russia and Brazil faced significant challenges that dampened growth prospects in
2015. Constrained import absorptive capacity from China which is experiencing a
managed economic slowdown, occasioned the accumulation of commodity
inventories, a development that depressed metal prices.

Reflecting the effect of declining commodity prices, inflationary pressures in
advanced, emerging markets and developing economies remained muted while real
effective exchange rate fluctuations have been unusually high over the recent past.

In its October 2015 World Economic Outlook (WEO) report, the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) projected global economic growth at 3.1% in 2015, compared
to the July 2015 projection of 3.3%. Table 1 below shows global economic
developments and growth projections.

Table 1: Global Economic Developments and Outlook (%)

(Estimate)

(Projection)
World Output

Advanced Economies

US

Japan

Emerging Market & Developing Economies

China

India

Sub-Saharan Africa

Zimbabwe

Latin America & the Caribbean

Source: World Economic Outlook Update (October 2015), Ministry of Finance & RBZ projections

Despite subdued global economic activity, the world economy is expected to
modestly recover by 3.6% in 2016. This primarily reflects the expected narrowing
of attendant divergences in economic activity and growth patterns across major
economies in 2016. Improvements in the global economic outlook is attributed to
the projected acceleration of activity in the US economy, coupled with the
consolidation of recent gains in the Eurozone and Japan.

Accommodative monetary policy, low oil prices and in some instances, real
exchange rate depreciation are expected to spur economic performance in the
Eurozone in 2016.

Economic growth in China is estimated to have declined to 6.8% in 2015 and
projected to further decelerate to 6.3% in 2016, as the economy is expected to
continue drifting from an investment towards consumption-led growth.
Accordingly, the country’s fixed asset investment growth has been slowing down in
recent years, although it remains the key driver of aggregate demand. Discernible

progress has, however, been made towards promoting a more market-based financial
system, improved government finances, gradual floating of the exchange rate and
levelling of the playing field between state-owned enterprises and the private sector.

On the back of the negative repercussions of the slowdown in China on commodity
demand, activity in Sub-Saharan African economies is estimated to have decelerated
from 5% in 2014 to 3.8% in 2015. Additionally, the tightening of global financial
conditions in the wake of an interest rate increase in the U.S. and other frontier
market economies further dampened economic activity in the region.

In Southern Africa, economic growth prospects for South Africa, Angola,
Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe remained vulnerable to the downturn in
international commodity prices, the depreciation of domestic currencies (except for
Zimbabwe) and deteriorating electricity supply conditions. Against this background,
export earnings and fiscal revenues declined somewhat for these commodity
exporting countries.

Potential Impact of US Interest Rate Hike on Zimbabwe

Following the decision by the US to end the quantitative easing policy, the Federal
Reserve Bank of America (the Fed) raised interest rates by twenty-five basis points,
in December, 2015. The rise in the interest rate in the USA is expected to have an
impact on the global economy, through its effects on both short term and long-term
interest rates. In turn, changes in long-term interest rates have a bearing on exchange
rates, asset price developments as well as capital flows.

In the Zimbabwean context, the US interest rate hike is likely to be transmitted to
the domestic economy mostly through the trade and financial channels. The
anticipated strengthening of US dollar emanating from the interest rate hike will

potentially result in a further slowdown in prices of commodities that act as safe
investment havens, notably gold and platinum. The decline in the price of these
precious metals, will further dampen export receipts, a development that has an
undermining effect on domestic liquidity conditions and economic growth prospects
at large.

On the other hand, a stronger US dollar relative to Zimbabwe’s trading partner
currencies may result in increased imports of cheaper goods. This expenditure
switching effect may further compound the country’s external sector position. The
further strengthening of the US dollar, however, confers advantages to entities that
can affordably acquire capital goods to retool their operations particularly from
countries such as South Africa, China and Brazil, whose currencies have depreciated
over the recent past.

Zimbabwe, has limited options to cushion itself from the vulnerabilities associated
with the recent US interest rate hike. The absence of an exchange rate policy to deal
with the overvalued real effective exchange rate, implies that the country has to
strengthen self-discipline to undertake fiscal and internal devaluation policies in
order to enhance competitiveness in the domestic economy.

Implications of China’s Economic Slowdown
The Chinese economy has been growing at a rapid pace for the past thirty years, over
the recent past, the Chinese economy has, however, slowed down primarily on
account of slower fixed asset investment growth especially in real estate and
manufacturing sectors which face oversupply problems.

The decline in China’s stock markets, which began in June 2015, coupled with the
4.5% devaluation in the local unit, had adverse spill-over effects in other world
economies. These contagion effects were largely transmitted through marked

declines in equity markets, commodity markets, and increased exchange rate
volatility around the globe. These negative developments are expected to fully
manifest themselves through lower commodity prices. In particular, the fall in oil
prices is likely to hurt oil exporting countries through lower revenues. On the other
hand, a decline in commodity prices attributed to slackening demand from China
will likely hurt commodity dependent economies such as Zimbabwe.

Commodity Price Developments
On the back of anemic global economic growth and the slowdown in China, gold,
platinum, copper, and nickel prices declined in 2015. The strengthening of the US$
also eroded the demand for precious metals as alternative investment assets.
Importantly, the improved supply of base metals resulted in the accumulation of
inventories, a development that further dampened commodity prices. Food prices
also registered declines, largely on account of favourable yields in major crops
across the world.

Gold and Platinum Prices
Precious mineral prices declined in 2015, mainly underpinned by the sustained
strengthening of the U.S. dollar coupled with prolonged speculation surrounding the
U.S. interest rate hike and reduced financial risks associated with depressed crude
oil prices. These developments undermined the appeal of precious minerals as safe
investment assets. Against this backdrop, gold and platinum prices retreated by
14.6% and 30.9% respectively, in 2015, as shown in Figure 1 below1.


1 The reported gold, platinum, nickel, copper and Brent crude oil price changes are extracted from the World Bank
Commodities Price Data (The Pink Sheet), 2 October 2015

1420582283771/Pnk_1015.pdf

Figure 1: Gold and Platinum Prices for 2015
Source: Bloomberg
In the medium term, precious metal prices are projected to continue on a downward
spiral in response to the appreciation of the dollar as economic recovery in the US
gains substantial traction.

Base Metal Prices
Base metal prices remained depressed over the period of review as evidenced by the
decline in nickel and copper prices. In this regard, nickel and copper prices declined
significantly by 41.3% and 20.5%, respectively, on account of progressive inventory
build-ups stemming from slackening demand from China. Similarly, crude oil prices
retreated by 21.2% during the same period, largely underpinned by subdued demand
and excess supply.

Figure 2: Nickel, Copper and Brent Crude Oil Prices
Source: Bloomberg

Energy prices have generally been on a declining trend largely as a result of the
marked drop in international oil prices. Figure 2 above shows the evolution in crude
oil prices. According to the World Bank, the ongoing European Central Bank’s
expanded quantitative easing program is anticipated to spur the demand for most
industrial metals and in the process boost their prices in the medium term. Oil prices
are expected to average US$61.2/barrel in 2016, as supply growth moderates.

Food Prices
International food prices, as measured by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) Food Price Index, have declined since September 2014 as
shown in Figure 3. The decline in food prices was occasioned by ample supply
conditions, a slump in energy prices and concerns over China’s economic slowdown.
International cereal prices have been under downward pressure since early 2015,
amid large inventories and generally improved crop prospects.

During 2015, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Food Price index averaged
164.1 points, nearly 19% less than in 2014, marking the fourth consecutive annual
decline, as shown in Figure 3 below. Abundant supplies in the face of depressed
world demand and an appreciating US dollar are the key factors that weakened food

prices in 2015. However, the Elnino effect which has caused floods in some parts of
Europe, the US and Asia and drought in southern Africa is likely to result in low
agricultural output and global food shortages and hence rise in food prices.

Figure 3: FAO Nominal Food Price Index (2004=100)2

Source: Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)

Commodity price developments for precious and base metals have implications on
Zimbabwe’s external sector position as the country’s exports are dominated by primary
commodities from the mining and agricultural sectors. Weaker prices for precious and
base metals imply lower export and fiscal revenues for Zimbabwe, while depressed oil
and food prices have a moderating effect on the country’s fuel and food import bill.


2 The FAO Food Price Index is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities. It
consists of the average prices of five major commodity groups, i.e cereals, meat, dairy products, vegetable oils and sugar.

2014M12
2015M1
2015M2
2015M3
2015M4
2015M5
2015M6
2015M7
2015M8
2015M9
2015M10
2015M11
2015M12

SECTION 3
ZIMBABWE BALANCE OF PAYMENTS DEVELOPMENTS

Within the context of the multi-currency system, the levels of liquidity in the national
economy largely depends on the balance of payments developments (BOP). This is
why the Zimbabwean economy is referred to as an open economy. It is open to, and
strongly influenced by, outside economic factors which are components of the
balance of payment i.e. exports, imports, diaspora remittance, capital inflows, etc,
as indicated in Figure 4 below.

Figure 4 shows the broad components of the BOP or balance of international
payments, which represent a summation of the country’s current demand and supply
of the claims on foreign currencies and of foreign claims on its currency.

The transactions include payments for the country’s exports and imports of goods,
services, financial capital and financial transfers. When all components of the BOP
accounts are included they must sum to zero with no overall surplus or deficit. A
BOP surplus (or deficit) is accompanied by an accumulation (or decumulation) of
foreign exchange reserves by the Central Bank.

The key in Figure 4 is for the country to put in place measures to plug the leakages
in order to increase foreign exchange reserves and in so doing increasing liquidity.

Figure 4 Measures to Plug Leakages


Foreign currency inflows contribute positively to the stock of forex in the country.
Foreign currency outflows deplete the stock of foreign currency in the country.
Economic transformation requires “a plugging the leakages approach” to mitigate against the export of liquidity through
IFFs, trade mispricing and unsanctioned unproductive investments.
FOREIGN CURRENCY INFLOWS
(Supply)
Export Receipts
Diaspora Remittances
External Loan Proceeds
Foreign Investment
Aid & Grants


Imports

Services Payments

Capital Repayments

Cross-border investments

Leakages (IFFs) etc
Stock of foreign currency in
the country
1.
Nostro Accounts
2.
RTGS
3.
Cash at Bank
4.
Unbanked cash
Export of Liquidity
FOREIGN CURRENCY OUTFLOWS
(Demand)


Reflecting the effects of the downturn in international commodity prices and the
deceleration in economic activity in Zimbabwe, merchandise exports for the period
January to November, 2015 declined by 12.2% from US$2.8 billion in 2014 to US$2.5
billion in 2015.

Concomitant with the slowdown in economic activity, and widespread industrial undercapacity utilization, imports declined by 5.8% from US$5.9 billion for the period
January to November 2014 to US$5.5 billion over the corresponding period in 2015.
Figure 5 below shows the merchandise trade developments for the first eleven months
of 2015.

Figure 5: Merchandise Trade for 2015 (US$ Million)

Source: ZIMSTAT

Despite the slowdown in total merchandise trade, imports surpassed export revenues
culminating in the incurrence of a trade deficit in 2015. This resulted in the marginal
worsening of the trade balance by a marginal 0.3%, from a deficit of US$3.02 billion
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Exports

Imports

Trade Balance -252.6 -213.7 -310.6 -252.6 -315.0 -339.3 -315.3 -354.0 -360.2 -279.6


recorded during the period January to November 2014 to a deficit of US$3.03 billion
in 2015.

The country’s import absorption remains high relative to export performance, a
development that has undermined efforts to sustainably build adequate foreign
exchange reserve buffers and improve domestic money supply conditions. More
significantly, a huge import bill has essentially drained foreign exchange resources
realized from exports, credit lines, and remittances, thereby further tightening liquidity
conditions with constraining effects on economic growth potential. The sustained
excess of imports over exports is exacerbated by the incidences of IFFs that impose a
constraint on current account performance, which has continued to record sizeable
deficits over the past few years. The country is consuming much more than it is
producing and hence a current account deficit.

On the capital account, surpluses realized were underpinned by reliance on private
sector debt creating capital flows. The capital account, however, slowed down
reflecting the effects of debt repayments falling due and subdued foreign direct
investment inflows. Capital and current account developments in 2015 culminated in
the deterioration in the overall balance of payments deficit from US$40.3 million in
2014 to an estimated deficit of US$385.8 million in 2015. (See Figure 6 and Table 2
below).

Figure 6: Overall Balance of Payments (US$ Million)

Source: RBZ, Ministry of Finance & Zimstat

Table 2: Balance of Payments Summary (US$M)

Actual
Actual
Estimate
Projection
Current Account Balance

Trade Balance

Exports F.O.B

Agriculture

Mining

Manufacturing

Imports F.O.B

Food

Fuel

Capital Account Balance

Errors And Omissions

Overall Balance

Source: RBZ, Ministry of Finance & Zimstat

Table 3 below shows performance of key liquidity sources over the period 2009 to
2015.

CURRENT ACCOUNT

CAPITAL ACCOUNT

Overall Balance


Table 3: Sources of Market Liquidity – Supply Side (USD M)
Category

2015 2009-2015 % contr
Banked Export
Receipts
1,618 2,287 3,281 4,454 4,535 3,678 2,894
22,747
59%
International
Remittances3

1,831 2,030 1,822 1,756 1,962
11,121
29%
External Loans

2,912
8%
Income receipts

1,019
3%
Foreign
Investments4

1,101
3%
Total
2,486 3,389 5,668 7,502 7,648 6,498 5,709
38,900
100%
Source: Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Records

Evidently, exports remain the dominant source of market liquidity contributing 59%
over the period 2009 to 2015, followed by international remittances which
contributed 29% to total foreign exchange inflows. External loans and income
receipts has remained relatively low.

In 2015, Diaspora remittances amounted to USD935 million which is about 48% of
total remittances which were about USD2 billion as shown in Table 4.


3 International Remittances includes Diaspora, NGOs, Embassies and other International
Organisations (IOs).

4 Foreign investments includes investment income and royalties earned from offshore

Table 4: International Remittances 2009 to 2015 (USD M)
Receipt Code

2013 2014

Total
International
Organisations
(IOs)


Growth Rate


Diaspora
Remittances

4,458
Growth rate


Total
International
Remittances


Growth Rate


Source: Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Records

SECTION 4
INFLATION DEVELOPMENTS
Reflecting the constraining effect of tight liquidity conditions, inflation has remained
in the negative territory since the fourth quarter of 2014. In this regard, annual headline
inflation decelerated from -1.3% in January 2015 to a lowest rate of -3.3% in October
2015, before accelerating slightly to -2.5% in December 2015. Annual headline
averaged -2.4% for the period January to November 2015.

The persistent negative inflationary mode is underpinned by the continued deflating
effects on both food and non-food prices, against the backdrop of waning aggregate
demand due to significant externalization taking place in the country. Figure 7 below
shows the annual headline inflation profile for the period November 2014 to November
2015.
Figure 7: Annual Inflation Profile (%)
Source: ZIMSTAT, December 2015
The deceleration in inflation is exhibited in both food and non-food inflation trends, as
shown in Figure 8 below.


Jan-13
Feb-13
Mar-13
Apr-13
May-13
Jun-13
Jul-13
Aug-13
Sep-13
Oct-13
Nov-13
Dec-13
Jan-14
Feb-14
Mar-14
Apr-14
May-14
Jun-14
Jul-14
Aug-14
Sep-14
Oct-14
Nov-14
Dec-14
Jan-15
Feb-15
Mar-15
Apr-15
May-15
Jun-15
Jul-15
Aug-15
Sep-15
Oct-15
Nov-15
(%)

Figure 8: Trends in Annual Food and Non-Food Inflation Rate (%)
Source: ZIMSTAT, December 2015
The slowdown in food inflation experienced in 2015 was mainly driven by the fall in
prices of bread and cereals; meat; vegetables and oils and fats sub-categories. Other
sub-categories that contributed to the decline in food inflation include milk, cheese and
eggs; fish and sea food, and non-alcoholic beverages. Regarding non-food inflation,
declines in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; furniture, household
equipment and maintenance; transport and communication contributed to the negative
rate.

In view of these developments, Zimbabwe remains the only country with negative
inflation in the SADC region, as shown in the Table 5


Jan-12
Mar-12
May-12
Jul-12
Sep-12
Nov-12
Jan-13
Mar-13
May-13
Jul-13
Sep-13
Nov-13
Jan-14
Mar-14
May-14
Jul-14
Sep-14
Nov-14
Jan-15
Mar-15
May-15
Jul-15
Sep-15
Nov-15
Food
Non Food

Table 5: Annual Inflation Rates for Selected SADC Member Countries and
USA (%)
Source: Country Central Bank Websites, 2015
n/a- not available


As previously alluded to, the Bank is committed to addressing negative inflation by
plugging leakages of liquidity from the economy. During the course of 2015, for
example US$684 million was externalized by individuals for various purposes that
include donations, investments, account transfers etc. In addition, US$1.2 billion
export sales proceeds were externalized by firms. Circulating this liquidity within
the national economy has a great multiplier effect and has a positive contribution to
boosting aggregate demand.

Zimbabwe
SA
Botswana
Mozambique Tanzania
Zambia
Malawi
USA
Nov-2014

Dec-2014

Jan-2015

Feb-2015

Mar-2015

Apr-2015

May-2015

Jun-2015

Jul-2015

Aug-2015

Sep-2015

Oct-2015

Nov-2015


SECTION 5

MONETARY POLICY DEVELOPMENTS
Whilst the multi-currency system (or dollarization) is an inhibiting factor to the full
conduct of monetary policy by the Bank, the Bank has not been found wanting. It
has managed to develop monetary policy tools consistent with dollarization, and
outside the conventional tools of monetary policy. The non-conventional tools
include the African Export Import Bank Trade Backed Facility (AFTRADES) which
has a lender of last resort characteristics, the Zimbabwe Asset Management
Corporation (ZAMCO) which has stimulus package characteristics, interest rate
guidelines, introduction of small denomination coins (bond coins) and
demonetisation.

Usage of these tools by the Bank has managed to stabilise and strengthen the banking
sector as detailed below.

Aftrades

The US$200 million Lender of Last Resort Type Facility underwritten by the
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) under the Afreximbank Trade Debt
Backed Securities (AFTRADES), was a game changer in addressing financial
stability through providing a liquidity support window for banks at RBZ. This
facility supported banks in an amount of US$178.8 million as at 31 December 2015,
for tenors of up to 2 years maturing on 13 February 2017, with initial support granted
on 19 March 2015.

This facility also brought discipline in the financial market as no funds are granted
without security. The interest rates under this facility are a good benchmark for
managing domestic interest rates as the Aftrades interest rates are basically the base

lending rates and reflect the marginal cost of funds. Surplus banks earn interest of
around 6.5% per annum whilst borrowing banks are charged interest rate of around
8.5% per annum.

Zimbabwe Asset Management Corporation

The Zimbabwe Asset Management Corporation (ZAMCO) has made notable
progress in fulfilling its mandate of cleansing banks’ balance sheets through
acquisition and restructuring of non-performing loans. As at 31 December 2015,
ZAMCO had acquired and restructured non-performing loans totalling $357 million
from a number of banking institutions.

ZAMCO has acquired and restructured loans for distressed companies that have
good turning around prospects. These companies are in critical sectors of the
economy such as mining, agro-processing and manufacturing. The restructuring
involved extending the loan repayment period, grace periods for capital repayment
and reducing interest rates and in some instances converting debt to equity.

ZAMCO is optimistic that the acquisition and restructuring of loans for the affected
companies, will firmly set them on a path to return to viability in the short to medium
term, thereby supporting employment and economic transformation. Some of the
major companies whose debts have been restructured and taken over by ZAMCO
include the following:

Table 6 Companies Taken Under ZAMCO
Company
Amount
RioZim
33,772,100
Cottco
29,875,091
Hwange
14,868,435
Cairns
6,924,164
Border Timbers
6,666,919
CSC
2,197,737
Global Horizons
1,041,041
TOTAL


A total of eighteen (18) NPLs amounting to $77.4 million are at various stages of
evaluation. Further, ZAMCO, in conjunction with judicial managers, is at advanced
stages of concluding restructuring transactions of four (4) companies, with combined
value of $31 million. Finalization of these transactions will mark the completion of
the first phase of NPLs acquisitions.

In the first quarter of 2016, focus will be on all other eligible NPLs outside the top
100 with a minimum amount of $50,000. In that regard, banking institutions are
required to ensure that loan and security files as well as business plans in
respect to NPLs they wish to sell to ZAMCO in the second phase are in place to
facilitate the due diligence and asset review processes.

Small Denomination Coins (Bond Coins)

The introduction of bond coins on 18 December 2014 for promoting divisibility of
money was necessary to enhance price competitiveness and to enable the conduct of

sub-dollar transactions. Given the low levels of employment in the country, lack of
change or small denomination coins was very regressive as the poor were bearing
the brunt of dollarization at the expense of business. They were paying more in
proportionate terms.

An amount of US$10 million of bond coins is in circulation in the economy. The
coins which are widely used throughout the economy are a good store of value as
they are indexed to the US$. They trade one to one or at par with the US$. The
coins are not susceptible to exchange losses in the wake of the fall or depreciation
of emerging market currencies to the US$ that have seen the Rand depreciating by
45% between December 2014 and January 2016 from R11.4 to the US$ to the
current level of R16. This is, therefore, not surprising that consumers had to switch
from rand coins to bond coins. This is quite permissible and rational under a multicurrency system which provides a wider range of choice for mitigating exchange
loses.

Demonetisation of the Zimbabwean Dollar

The demonetisation of the Zimbabwe dollar which was announced by the Minister
of Finance and Economic Development in the 2014 National Budget, as well as, in
the Mid-term Fiscal Review, and in the Monetary Policy Statement of January 2015,
commenced on 15 June 2015 and ended on 30 September 2015. The purpose of
demonetization of the local unit was to promote consumer and business confidence
by providing credibility to the multi-currency system and legally retiring the Z$. A
Statutory Instrument was promulgated to that effect on 12 June 2015. An amount
of US$9 million out of a budget of US$20 million was converted at the closure of
the demonetization program.

The Bank is currently working with the Deposit Protection Corporation (DPC) to
ensure that account holders whose balances were held with closed banks are paid.
DPC is expected to fully pay out these beneficiaries by the end of April 2016.

SECTION 6
BANKING SECTOR DEVELOPMENTS

Architecture of the Banking Sector
The banking sector exhibited positive developments in 2015 as evidenced by its
sustained safety and soundness, satisfactory with respect of metrics such as capital
adequacy, liquidity and profitability, among others. In particular, the sector
benefitted from concerted efforts by the Reserve Bank and Government to promote
the resilience of the sector, bolster confidence and improve regulatory oversight to
enhance the sector’s capacity to adequately support economic activity. As at 31
December 2015, there were 18 operating banking institutions as shown in the table
7 below.

Table 7 Operating Bank Institutions
Type of Institution
Number
Commercial Banks

Merchant Banks
1*
Building Societies

Savings Bank

Total Banking Institutions

*Tetrad under provisional judicial management of the Deposit Protection Corporation
In addition, the following institutions are also under the purview of the Reserve
Bank:
Table 8
Credit-only Microfinance Institutions

Deposit-taking Microfinance Institutions

Development Institutions

During the last quarter of 2015, the Reserve Bank licensed the National Building
Society Limited (wholly owned by the National Social Security Authority) and three
(3) deposit taking microfinance institutions namely, Getbucks Financial Services
(Private) Limited, African Century Leasing Company and Collarhedge Finance
(Private) Limited.

Getbucks Financial Services Limited and African Century Leasing Company
commenced operations in January 2016 while National Building Society Limited
and Collarhedge Finance (Pvt) Ltd are finalising the administrative and
infrastructural facilities in readiness for operations. The entrance of more players in
the financial sector bodes well for efforts aimed at promoting the deepening of
financial markets.

Capitalisation

The banking sector’s capitalization levels continued to improve as reflected by the
increase in the aggregate core capital base from $811.2 million as at 31 December
2014 to $982.5 million as at 31 December 2015. The increase was primarily
underpinned by improved retention of earnings, as well as fresh capital injection at
some banking institutions. As a consequence, all operating banking institutions
(excluding Tetrad Investment Bank), were in compliance with the prescribed
minimum capital requirements by year end.

Two (2) banking institutions, CBZ Bank and CABS Building Society, had already
surpassed the $100 million minimum capital requirement for the Tier 1 strategic
group, which is effective in 2020, while three, Stanbic, BancABC and Standard
Chartered, had capital levels above $50 million as indicated in Table 9.

Table 9
Institution
Core Capital as at
31 December 2015
(USD million)
Prescribed
Minimum
Capital
requirements
(USD million)
CBZ Bank*
205.68

Stanbic Bank
86.06

BANC ABC
67.89

Standard Chartered Bank
57.36

Barclays Bank
46.43

Ecobank
44.40

Steward Bank
42.23

NMB Bank
42.09

MBCA Bank
41.31

FBC Bank
39.29

ZB Bank
38.99

Agribank
35.30

Metbank
33.82

MERCHANT BANKS


Tetrad Investment Bank
(Under Judicial Management)
(24.52)

BUILDING SOCIETIES


CABS Building Society
108.55

FBC Building Society
34.98

ZB Building Society**
15.68

* including CBZ Building Society
** Society being merged with ZB Bank

Most banking institutions have indicated a preference for Tier 1 segment (minimum
capital of $100 million by 2020), to be achieved through a combination of organic
growth and fresh capital injection. The Bank continues to monitor implementation
of banking institutions’ capital plans to ensure compliance with the 2020 minimum
capital requirements. On an ongoing basis, banking institutions are, therefore,
expected to continuously review their capital positions to assess adequacy to cover
the risks assumed in the intermediation role.

Earnings
The banking sector remained profitable, with a reported aggregate net profit of
$127.47 million for the year ended 31 December 2015. A total of 15 out of 18
operating banking institutions recorded profits. In a few institutions, increased
provisioning for bad and doubtful debts, however, weighed down on their
performance resulting in losses.


Financial Intermediation
As at 31 December 2015, total banking sector deposits grew by 11.2% to US$5.6
billion whilst and loans amounted to $3.9 billion, respectively. Against the
background of the sluggish growth in credit, the loan to deposit ratio declined from
78.4% as at 31 December 2014 to 68.8% by the end of December 2015 as indicated
in Figure 9 below.
Figure 9


31-Dec-09
31-Dec-10
31-Dec-11
31-Dec-12
31-Dec-13
31-Dec-14
31-Dec-15
Loans to Deposits Ratio

Figure 10 below shows the deposit trends from December 2011 to 31 December
2015.
Figure 10: Banking Sector Deposits- December 2011 to December 2015 (US$ M)


Banking sector deposits are dominated by demand and time deposits, which
accounted for 46.2% and 33.8% of total deposits, respectively, as at 31 December
2015. The tenure of deposits has generally improved and largely stabilised over the
past year, allowing banks to plan their funding arrangements and credit extension
around a higher level of core deposits. The distribution of the banking sector lending
to the various sectors as at 31 December 2015 is as indicated in the Figure 11 below.

31-Dec-11
31-Dec-12
31-Dec-13
31-Dec-14
31-Dec-15

Figure 11: Sectoral Distribution of Credit as at 31 December 2015


The banking sector remains largely constrained in meeting the long-term funding
requirements of capital intensive sectors such as construction and mining.
Meanwhile, the Bank expects banking institutions to continue to re-orient their
lending towards productive and export sectors of the economy such as horticulture
and mining in order to boost output and generation of foreign exchange earnings.

Broad money supply grew by 7.5% in November 2015 compared to a growth of 12%
recorded in November 2014. This lower growth is attributable to the slowdown in
economic activity, coupled with attendant external sector imbalances. As a
consequence, annual growth in broad money (as measured by the stock of bank
deposits, excluding interbank deposits) stood at US$4.7 billion at the end of
November 2015 as shown in Figure 12.


Trade and Services,
1.24%
Mining, 4.33%
Agriculture,
16.36%
Construction and
Property, 0.92%
Manufacturing,
24.31%
Individuals, 24.28%
Transport &
Distribution,
15.29%
Financial Services,
2.50%
State, 2.13%
Other, 8.63%

Figure 12: M3 Annual Level and Growth Rate

Source: Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe

The reactivation of the interbank market through the Aftrades facility, as well as other
financial sector measures continue to improve monetary conditions in the economy.
The Aftrades facility has also gone a long way in enhancing financial intermediation
through the increased participation of banks on the interbank market. Furthermore, the
fruition of various financial reform measures instituted by the Bank is expected to
further boost confidence in the financial sector, resulting in improved deposit
mobilization, critical for the revival of the economy.

Domestic Credit

Domestic credit is on a recovery path following the coming on board of ZAMCO and
Aftrades. These measures have resuscitated confidence in the domestic money market
and provided comfort for banks to resume lending to the private sector.


Non-Performing Loans

The ratio of non-performing loans to total loans declined markedly from a peak of
20.45% as at 30 September 2014 to 10.87% at 31 December 2015. Improvements in


Aug-14
Sep-14
Oct-14
Nov-14
Dec-14
Jan-15
Feb-15
Mar-15
Apr-15
May-15
Jun-15
Jul-15
Aug-15
Sep-15
Oct-15
Nov-15
Growth
US$ million
Demand
Savings
Under 30 days
Over 30 days
Growth

the level of NPLs in the banking sector is largely attributable to the disposal of
qualifying loans to ZAMCO and the effective credit risk management strategies
employed by banks including intensified collections and workout plans. The graph
below shows the trend in NPLs from 2009 to 31 December 2015.
Figure 13: Non-Performing Loans as at 31 December 2015


The institution of various resolution policy measures by banks, the assumption of
qualifying NPLs by ZAMCO and the establishment of a credit reference bureau are
expected to further reduce the level of NPLs. Towards this end, banking institutions
are working towards reducing their NPL ratios to levels below 10% and 5% by 30
June 2016 and 31 December 2016, respectively.

Banking Sector Liquidity

During 2015, the average prudential liquidity ratio for the banking sector surpassed
the minimum regulatory requirement of 30%. As a result, the banking sector average
prudential liquidity ratio as at 31 December 2015 stood at 45.4% as indicated in the
Figure 14.


Figure 14


Money Market Liquidity
Monthly RTGS account balances averaged US$506 million in 2015 compared to
US$408 million in 2014 as shown in Figure 15 below.

Figure 15: Monthly Average RTGS Account Balances (US$ million)


Source: RBZ

Basel II Standards
There has been notable improvements in risk management standards and capital
planning processes as reflected in the Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process
(ICAAP) reports submitted by banking institutions. However, the Bank has noted
some differences in coverage, depth and quality of the ICAAP reports across
banking institutions.
In order to address the identified gaps in some of the reports, the Bank is finalising
guidance to the banking sector on the minimum standard required in developing
ICAAP reports. The guidance is meant to elaborate on the structure and coverage
required in the reports in line with international best practice. The guidance will be
issued to the market by 31 March 2016.

Performance of the Microfinance Sector
The Microfinance sector recorded an increase in total loans from $162.2 million as
at 30 June 2015 to $173.3 million as at 30 September 2015. The microfinance sector

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

is highly concentrated with top twenty microfinance institutions contributing 89.1%
($154.5 million) of the microfinance sector’s total loans.

National Payment Systems

The National Payment Systems continued to be the prime mover of funds in the
economy through its integral payment, clearing and settlement roles. The Bank is
cognisant of the need to maintain a sound, efficient and safe payment system,
underpinned by continuous technological enhancements and risk management
processes that are consistent with international best practices.

Real Time Gross System (RTGS) Upgrade
The Bank remains committed to the modernization of the country’s payment
systems. Accordingly, the Bank in close collaboration with the banking sector,
successfully implemented and launched the RTGS Version 6.3.1 upgrade on 21
November 2015.

The upgraded RTGS is expected to continue to contribute to the efficient operation
of financial service system in the economy. Notably, digital financial services are a
key driver to achieve financial access thereby contributing to financial inclusion and
stability. It is, therefore, imperative for the market and key stakeholders to continue
promoting the use of electronic means of payment that are cost effective and efficient
for the benefit of the transacting public.

National Payment Statistics
The country continues to witness a steady growth in payment systems as depicted
by transactional activities on various streams which aggregated USD57 billion in
2015.

Figure 16: Annual RTGS System Transaction Values
Source: RBZ

In 2015, the activity distribution of payment methods was skewed towards the RTGS
system, which accounted for 80.3% of total value. Mobile payments on the other
hand accounted for 87.9% in terms of volumes of transactions processed. Figures
17 and 18 shows the proportional distribution of payment system methods in 2015.

Figure 17: 2015 Transactions Values Proportions

Source: RBZ

Values in US$Billions
VALUES
RTGS
80.70%
CHEQUE
0.26%
POS
2.84%
ATMS
6.19%
MOBILE
7.50%
INTERNET
2.52%

Figure 18: 2015 Transaction Volume Proportions

Source: RBZ


RTGS
0.88%
CHEQUE
0.15%
POS
5.64%
ATMs
5.23%
MOBILE
87.87%
INTERNET
0.22%

SECTION 7
FINANCIAL SECTOR REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

Credit Reference System

The Bank has made significant progress, towards the establishment of a credit
reference bureau (CRB). The adjudication process, which was in line with public
procurement rules and regulations, has been completed and the contract for setting
up the CRB system was awarded to a renowned company at a cost of around US$1.8
million. The credit reference databank will be housed at the Bank. All banking
institutions and microfinance institutions will be mandated to provide credit
information both positive and negative, to the databank. In terms of the model
adopted by the Bank, all private credit bureaus will be able to access, at a fee,
information from the databank.

Due to the ity nature of banking sector information and to ensure the
integrity of the credit reference databank, any person seeking to conduct any activity
which involves the collection and dissemination of credit information from banking
institutions, deposit taking microfinance institutions and microfinance institutions
should conform to minimum requirements set by the Reserve Bank.

In this regard, the Bank shall accredit private credit reference bureaus to enable them
to also collect and/or obtain credit information from the financial institutions.

Establishment of a Collateral Registry System

Empirical studies have shown that, in developing economies, 78% of the capital
stock of businesses is typically in movable assets such as machinery, equipment or
receivables, and only 22% in immovable property (Alvarez de la Campa, 2011). As

such, these economic agents, such as SMEs and households, find themselves with
“dead capital”, in the form of moveable assets which they are unable to utilize as
collateral.

It is against this background that more than 35 countries across the world have
established collateral registry systems, as a way of promoting the use of movable
collateral by lenders in order to increase access to credit. Notably, African countries
that established collateral registries include Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho,
Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Zambia

The benefits of establishing Collateral Registry are depicted in the diagram below:
Figure 19:


Towards this end, the Bank is working on measures to enhance the range of
acceptable and qualifying collateral security in line with international best practices
through the establishment of a collateral registry for movable property such as
machinery, automobiles, inventory, and account receivables, among others.
•Promotes
credit
diversification
•Increases
market
competition
•Reduces the
cost of credit
•Increases
access to credit
and reduces
risk of credit
- Underserved
MSMES, women
and
entreprenuers.
- Promotes risk
management
and prudent
lending
- Better interest
rates
- Move from
informal to formal
financing
- Cost savings for
businesses
- credit risk
diversification:
moveable and
immovable
- Sector
diversification in
the portolio
- Development of
industries (factoring
and leasing)
- Non-Banking
Financial
Institutions

The Bank has also created a unit within its structures that will file notices of security
interests in qualifying movable properties and determine priority in a borrower’s
collateral, so that lenders find movable property as acceptable security.

Amendments to the Banking Act and Reserve Bank Act

Further to my July 2015 Monetary Policy Statement, I am pleased that amendments
to the Banking Act and the Reserve Bank Act have been passed in both Houses of
Parliament and now await Presidential assent. The new regulatory framework
encompasses a comprehensive framework that will strengthen corporate governance
and risk management within banking institutions. The new framework has also,
amongst others, promotes good governance by punishing those that abuse depositors
funds, enhanced the oversight role of the Bank and empowered the Bank to take
prompt corrective action in problem bank resolution.

This enhanced framework will complement the Bank’s efforts to ensure a sound
financial system and to provide the necessary confidence to the banking public.

Adoption of New and Revised Auditing and Financial Reporting Standards

As stakeholders would be aware, a number of Auditing and Financial Reporting
Standards have been revised and re-issued since the Global Financial Crisis. The
changes in auditing standards are aimed at increasing transparency, accountability
and ethical behaviour of auditors; while the review of International Financial
Reporting Standards (IFRS) are expected to bring closer alignment with the
prudential impairment standards, timely recognition of expected credit losses,
robust the disclosure regime and revenue recognition, among other things. Some
of the standards that were issued are given in Table 10.
Table 10

Name
Description
Effective Date
Auditing Standards
ISA 700 (Revised)
Forming an opinion and reporting
on financial statements
16-Dec-16
ISA 701 (New)
Communicating Key Audit Matters
in
the
Independent
Auditor’s
Report
16-Dec-16
ISA 705 (Revised)
Modifications to the opinion in the
independent auditor's report
16-Dec-16
ISA 706 (Revised)
Emphasis of Matter paragraphs
and Other Matter Paragraphs in the
Independent Auditor’s Report;
16-Dec-16
ISA 570 (Revised)
Going Concern
16-Dec-16
ISA 260 (Revised)
Communication with those charged
with governance
16-Dec-16


Accounting Standards
IFRS 7
Financial
Instruments
–
Disclosures
Annual periods
beginning on or after 1
January 2016
IFRS 9
Financial Instruments
Annual periods
beginning on or after 1
January 2018
IFRS 15
Revenue
from
contracts
with
customers
Annual periods
beginning on or after 1
January 2018
IFRS 16
Leases
Annual periods
beginning on or after 1
January 2019

Banking institutions and their respective auditors should prepare banking institutions
and their respective auditors for transitioning, in light of the implementation
challenges that the market will face. The standard setting bodies have acknowledged
that implementation of the standards may prove operationally challenging and costly
and may require significant lead-time to implement.

In this regard and in view of the need to ensure consistent implementation of
standards, the Reserve Bank is working with the Public Accountants & Auditors
Board (PAAB) in coming up with the implementation road map for the new and
revised standards.

Legal and Policy Guidelines

In view of the need to continuously enhance and clarify the regulatory framework to
the market, the Bank will be issuing the Oversight Framework and Recognition
Criteria, as well as the Electronic Payments Guidelines before the end of the first
quarter of 2016. The introduction and operationalization of these guidelines will
help in fostering continued financial stability and effective risk management in the
payment systems.

Framework for Supervision of Domestic –Systemically Important Banks

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision developed a framework for the
supervision of Domestic- Systemically Important Bank (D-SIBS) in 2012 due to the
adverse side-effects of externalities they impose on the local economy, should they
fail. The process of identifying these D-SIBS takes into account the following:
a) Size;
b) Substitutability / financial institution infrastructure;
c) Interconnectedness; and
d) Complexity.
The framework recommends two approaches to dealing with D-SIBS, namely
increasing the loss absorbency capacity of the D-SIBS through increased capital and
intensive supervision. In line with the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision
recommendations, the Reserve Bank shall develop a banking sector specific
framework for identifying and dealing with D-SIBS by 30 June 2016.

SECTION 8
NATIONAL FINANCIAL INCLUSION STRATEGY

In order to facilitate a systematic and coordinated approach to financial inclusion
initiatives in the country, the Bank, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, has
developed a National Financial Inclusion Strategy. The overarching objective of the
Strategy is to deepen financial intermediation for the marginalised and the unbanked
to have access to appropriate financial services during the Strategy period of 2016 -
2020.

The well-recognised direct correlation between financial inclusion and economic
development necessitates deliberate policy interventions to promote financial
inclusivity and proper functioning of the financial system. An inclusive financial
system promotes financial sector development through a combination of depth,
access and efficiency, and the level of activity of capital markets.

Access to and usage by economic agents of a wide range of financial products and
services that meet their unique needs at affordable cost, is critical in stimulating
financial savings and investment, and therefore economic activity and growth, while
mitigating systemic risk and promoting financial stability.

An inclusive financial system facilitates mobilization of financial resources
circulating in the informal sector, which positively impacts on liquidity in the
economy. The 2011 and 2014 FinScope Consumer surveys and the 2012 FinScope
SMME Survey revealed that 23% of Zimbabwe’s adult population was financially
excluded, only 30% of Zimbabwe’s adult population made use of banking services
as at 2014 and only 14% of SMME owners are banked.

Financial inclusion gaps have been pronounced among some special groups who are
currently under-served including micro, small and medium enterprises, small scale
agricultural sector, women and youths. The 2014/5 making access possible supplyside diagnostic study revealed a decline in the actual usage of banking services
between 2011 and 2014 notwithstanding the increase in the number of banked adults
during the same period.

Against this background, there is need for increased responsiveness of the providers
of financial services to the unique needs of financial consumers in the country.

Financial Inclusion Strategy Pillars and Core Enablers

The Strategy addresses the broad barriers to financial inclusion through
implementation of key priority measures with a view to reducing the level of
financial exclusion. The Strategy is anchored by four pillars supported by a number
of enablers as shown in Figure 20 below.

Figure 20


i.
Financial innovation has enabled financial institutions to reduce the costs
associated with the brick and mortar model and infrastructure constraints. This
entails financial institutions taking advantage of new information and
FINANCIAL INCLUSION ENABLERS
Conducive Economic Environment
Institutional Coordination & Political
Commitment
Supportive Policy & Regulatory
Framework
Data Availability
Appropriate Infrastructure
PILLARS OF NATIONAL FINANCIAL INCLUSION
STRATEGY
FINANCIAL INNOVATION
FINANCIAL LITERACY
FINANCIAL CONSUMER
PROTECTION
MICROFINANCE
NATIONAL FINANCIAL INCLUSION STRATEGY
Access and Usage of Financial
Services by Majority of
population and MSMEs

communication technologies to reach out to the excluded segments of the
population.

Increasingly, agent banking and e-banking are being recognized as efficient and
cost effective delivery channels of financial products and services. To this end,
the Bank has approved the adoption of agent banking models by banks seeking
to increase proximity of financial services products and services to clients,
including in rural areas.

Against this background, all banking institutions are required to explore the
agent banking model. Banks may engage the following persons/ entities as their
agents:

a. Registered microfinance Institutions;
b. Cooperative Societies regulated under Cooperative Society Act;
[Chapter 24:05];
c. Courier and Mailing Service Companies registered under the Ministry
of Posts & Telecommunication;
d. Companies registered under ‘The Companies Act [Chapter 24:03];
e. Agents of Mobile Network Operators;
f. Offices of rural and urban local Government institutions;
g. Educated individuals capable of handling IT based financial services;
h. Agents of insurance companies; and
i. Owners of pharmacies, chain shops and petrol pumps/ gas stations.

The Bank will issue detailed guidelines to govern the establishment and
operations of bank agents by 31 March 2016.

ii.
Financial literacy programs enable consumers of financial products and
services to acquire knowledge, skills, attitude and behaviour to be aware of
financial opportunities, make informed choices in line with their circumstances
and take effective action to improve their welfare.

A financial literacy framework will be issued by 30 June 2016. The framework
will ensure that various consumers of financial products are empowered to
responsibly interface with financial institutions as well as enforce their rights. In
terms of the framework banking institutions will be required to develop and
implement financial literacy programmes for the various segments of their
customers. Further, in order to ensure that financial literacy is inculcated at an
early stage, banking institutions are required to open accounts for school children
with special features including no minimum balance, attractive interest rates and
no charges.

The Bank will conduct national financial literacy programmes mainly targeted
at special groups such as school-going children, MSME entrepreneurs, women
entrepreneurs, youth and vulnerable adults such as pensioners and less literate
adults. The availability of information is critical in facilitating inclusion of all
Zimbabweans in economic activities particularly those in remote areas. In this
regard, information centres will be established in the various districts of the
country. Information and services that will be accessible from the centres include
remittances, financial information, and information on health, agriculture and
markets. This will have far reaching implications on productivity in agriculture,
employment creation, rural sector development and financial inclusion.

The information centres may also be used by banks as agents in their banking
operations.

iii.
Consumer protection is an important pillar in the implementation of the
National Financial Inclusion Strategy, as it promotes consumers’ confidence in
the financial system particularly among the low-income households, as well as
stimulate healthy competition and responsible pricing. The Bank is currently
developing Consumer Protection Prudential Standards to be issued by 31 March
2016. The Standards seek to promote greater transparency and minimize
information asymmetry between consumers and financial service providers and
to address the protection of the rights of consumers through, inter alia, effective
redress mechanisms to enhance public confidence in the financial system.

In line with the above development, by 30 June 2016, all banking institutions
should have in place board approved institutional ethical standards, code of
conduct and customer charter.

iv.
Microfinance is by nature targeted at low income households and micro, small
and medium enterprises (bottom of the pyramid). Accordingly microfinance is
highly relevant to the Zimbabwean macroeconomic context where the majority
of the population falls in the low income segment, and the business landscape is
now tilted towards small scale enterprises.

Table 11 below shows the trend in key performance indicators for the
microfinance institutions in Zimbabwe.

Table 11

Sep 14
Dec 14
Mar 15
Jun 15
Sep 15
Number of licensed institutions

Total loans (million)
$151.8
$157.0
$163.5
$162.2
$173.3
Total Assets (million)
$210.1
$202.7
$202.6
$208.8
$207.7
Portfolio at Risk (PaR>30days)

Number of Clients
220,357 205,282
189,028
224,300 198,371
Number of Loans
257,542 257,542
195,641
281,547 224,055
Number of Branches

To enable this sector to assist on furthering access to financial products, the
following services are necessary from microfinance institutions;
a) Microfinance institutions must prime their operations and governance structures
in order to qualify to access funding from Zimbabwe Microfinance Wholesale
Fund at concessionary interest rates;
b) Microfinance institutions and moneylenders, are required to be responsible in
their lending activities and should lower their interest rates to avoid condemning
borrowers into debt traps;
c) Microfinance institutions may act as agents of banks to ensure that the
underserved particularly in rural areas, have access to financial services;
d) Microfinance institutions must re-orient their loan portfolios from consumptive
lending towards financing the productive sectors; and
e) Microfinance institutions should adopt technology driven distribution channels
to extend their outreach particularly in rural areas.

Priority Areas and Specific Strategic Measures

Development of specific measures and targets that enable prioritisation of the
currently under-served and marginalized population groups is at the core of any
financial inclusion agenda. The Bank is passionate and committed to ensure
that more SMEs, Women, Youth and the rural population have access to
mainstream financial institutions.

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development

In recognition of the importance of MSMEs in the country’s economic growth
agenda, the Bank is committed to the development of a vibrant MSME sector in
order to boost employment and export generation. The majority of MSMEs lack
adequate infrastructure and funding to enhance business operations, and properly
structure and drive their business towards viability. As such, there is significant
scope for banks to understand the specific needs of MSMEs and upscale their
financial schemes and products appropriate for the MSMEs.

In view of the increasing important role being played by small businesses and the
informal sector in the growth of economy, banks should increase support to this
sector in all areas of the economy through the development of innovative
demand-driven financial products. Against this background, the following policy
measures will be implemented:

a)
Every banking institution should establish a dedicated MSME business unit
which should be adequately capacitated;
b)
Every banking institution shall follow a separate business strategy in
financing MSME loans with least formalities in executing documentation to
ensure easy and speedy loan sanction and disbursement process;

c)
Priority shall be given to MSMEs operating in rural areas;
d)
In order to effectively serve the MSMEs, there is need for a target based
credit initiative by banks. Banking institutions are required to set their
annual target lending to MSMEs categorised by gender, enterprise size and
business sector among other variables, and submit their targets to the
Reserve Bank by 31 March 2016;
e)
Banking institutions that meet their MSME lending targets will qualify for
the incentives that will be advised in due course;
f)
In addition, banking institutions should develop programmes aimed at
capacitating SMEs and enhance their entrepreneurial and financial skills to
effectively and efficiently manage their businesses;
g)
Banking institutions should adopt value chain financing models to facilitate
increased business opportunities for SMEs in all sectors of the economy;
h)
The Bank will facilitate capacity building programs for financial institutions
to enable them to develop innovative and appropriate financial products and
services for MSMEs;
i)
Strengthening the linkages and relationship of the MSMEs to industrial
associations in order to enhance formalisation and create forums for
exchange of information.

Cluster Financing

Developing countries, such as Bangladesh, have successfully used the cluster
model in the development of MSMEs. The model entails the identification and
grouping of MSMEs in a locality involved in similar business activities (eg
horticulture or dairy) into a cluster. Capacity building and credit programs are
tailored to the specific needs of the cluster.

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Corporation (SMEDCO)
would need to identify clusters that can be nurtured throughout all the districts of
the country. This is critical in ensuring that the diverse funding needs of the
MSMEs are attended to in our collective endeavour to reshape the future
economy of Zimbabwe in the path towards sustainable growth. SMEDCO will
be required to link the identified clusters with financial institutions for their
funding and advisory requirements. SMEDCO, banking institutions and
microfinance institutions will be required to arrange training on entrepreneurship
development where the Reserve Bank will play a supporting role. The
institutions will be required to incorporate the implementation status of such
programs in their annual reports.

Group Lending Model

Banks and microfinance institutions should continue to adjust their lending
methodologies to enable them to adequately serve the various segments of the
population including rural areas.

In this regard, banks and microfinance institutions should explore the group
lending approach particularly in the rural areas where the sense of belonging to
the community is an important factor to the performance of a borrowing member
in a group. Such a model has been instrumental in rural development in some
developing countries.

Women Economic Empowerment

The Bank will continue to champion financial inclusion as a key step towards
achieving women economic empowerment. Women are currently largely
excluded from formal financial services. The Finscope survey of 2012 indicated

that 57% of the business owners are women, and women constitute the 51% of
the Zimbabwean population.

The participation of the Zimbabwean women in the mainstream economy is
critical in attaining sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction. It is
against this background that the Bank is embarking on strategies to enhance
women access to financial services. To facilitate enhanced participation of
women in the development of the country, priority shall be given to potential
women entrepreneurs in respect of MSME credit disbursement.

Banking
institutions
should
consider
establishing
separate
‘Women
Entrepreneurs’ Dedicated Desk’ with necessary and suitable manpower and
provide advice and training on MSME financing. In addition, banking
institutions should submit to the Reserve Bank on a quarterly basis, detailed
information on women accessing financial services, with effect from quarter
ending 30 June 2016.

In addition, the following measures will be undertaken to improve the level of
financial inclusion among women:
a) Establishment of a revolving women empowerment fund which will be
availed at affordable interest rates to support projects managed by women;
b) Strengthening women entrepreneurs’ human capital by developing
appropriate entrepreneurial education and training opportunities by
SMEDCO and banking institutions;
c) Raising awareness of financial products and financial services among
women through consumer education and financial literacy programs by the
Bank; and
d) Enhancing the capacity of financial institutions to better serve women
entrepreneurs.

In line with this, banks are required to apply gender-sensitive risk and credit
assessment methodologies.

Agriculture and Rural Financing & Development

Zimbabwe is an agro-economy with agriculture contributing about 12% of the
country’s GDP in 2014 and more than 60% of inputs to the manufacturing sector.
Access to financial services particularly by smallholder farmers, however,
remains a major bottleneck to agricultural performance in Zimbabwe.

Given the significance of the agriculture sector to the economy, banking
institutions are required to scale up their lending support to the agricultural
sector. The Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) is called upon to identify
and promote the development of vibrant markets and linkages.

The main thrust of Government is:
a) to make the nation self-sufficient in food through increasing production
of all crops;
b) ensure a profitable and sustainable agricultural production system and
improve farmers’ income generation capacity;
c) reduce excessive dependence on any single crop to minimize risk;
d) increasing cropping intensity and yield; and
e) create opportunities for establishing agro-processing and agro-based
industries.

In this regard, the Bank is developing an Agricultural & Rural Credit Policy.
The policy aims to make agricultural credit more disciplined and methodical,
easily available to all the farmers and all areas with a view to expand banking

services to rural areas and maximizing use of agricultural land. The policy covers
the major sectors of agriculture including crop, livestock, and fish production,
agri-equipment, irrigation equipment, grain storage and marketing.

In complementing Government efforts to revolutionalise agriculture through
introduction of modern farm-mechanization, improvement in production yields,
promotion of better market access, and integration of farming with other diverse
markets, banking institutions should provide more innovative and sustainable
value- chain financing products to small holder farmers and rural farmers.

In order to ensure the country’s self-sufficiency and food security and boost
exports, banking institutions should prioritise lending for the production of the
following crops:
a) Maize;
b) Cotton;
c) Tobacco; and
d) Horticulture.

Total lending to agriculture should constitute a minimum of 20% of a banking
institution’s total loan portfolio. Banking institutions are required to report on a
quarterly basis information on their agricultural portfolios with effect from
quarter period ending 30 June 2016. The detailed variables to be reported will be
provided by the Reserve Bank in due course.

Youth Economic Empowerment

Youth in Zimbabwe and in developing countries generally, are disproportionately
affected by high levels of unemployment largely explained by low levels of financial
inclusion. Youth are excluded from formal financial services largely due to negative

stereotypes about youth who are considered high risk-takers, cannot provide
collateral, have limited business and life experience and lack a track record or credit
history. This is in addition to the other demand side constraints affecting all
consumers of financial services.

Access to financial services could help youth become economically active, start their
own enterprises, finance education, and engage productively within their
communities. The following are some of the measures provided in the national
financial inclusion strategy to economically empower the youth.

a)
Incorporation of financial literacy programs for the youth in the National
Financial Literacy Strategy;
b)
Establishment of a youth empowerment window by all financial
institutions;
c)
Banking institutions to develop appropriate collateral substitutes in order
to address the challenge of security among youth borrowers;
d)
Capacitation of vocational training centres across the country to ensure
well trained graduates are in a position to apply their knowledge on startups; and
e)
Ensuring that regulatory frameworks and policies are youth friendly and
protective of youth rights in order to increase youth financial inclusion.

SECTION 9
POLICY MEASURES

Prudential Measures to Mitigate Against Illicit Financial Flows

Illicit financial flows (IFFs) and other capital flight remittances constitute a major
constraint to development financing in Africa. IFFs which include trade mispricing
and bulk cash movement cause heavy loses in government revenues, foregone
investment, financial fragility and lost output. In the case of Zimbabwe, the financial
haemorrhage from capital flight is exacerbated by the openness of the economy
which is susceptible to regional disruptive arbitrage activities (as businesses in the
region scramble to get access to US$s from a dollarised Zimbabwe).

In view of the above, the current practice in Zimbabwe of distinguishing foreign
exchange between free funds and non-free funds under a multi-currency system
economic environment is a great misnomer which is a breeding ground for IFFs. All
funds under the multi-currency system are fungible. Such funds lose identity
when commingled i.e. when mixed in the banking system and/or on person.

There is no difference between the US$ earned from exports and the US$
earned from employment or from the diaspora. They are all US$s which should
be utilised in accordance with best practice, a practice that safeguards the
financial system from illicit uses, combat money laundering and thereby
improving market confidence and liquidity for the productive sectors of the
economy.

Bank statistics show that during the period January to December 2015, a total of
US$684 million was remitted outside Zimbabwe or externalised by individuals
under the auspices of free funds for various dubious and unwarranted purposes that

include remittance of donations to oneself, offshore investments, externalisation of
export sales proceeds by corporates through individual accounts leading to pervasive
tax evasion and externalisation. This rampant export of liquidity is not
sustainable.

In view of the foregoing and in an effort to improve transparency in the utilisation
of scarce financial resources, the Bank is putting in place, with immediate
effect, the following measures to close the gaps and loopholes arising from
inconsistencies and inadequate enforcement of rules on financial transparency and
accountability, which in some instances, bodes around embezzlement of national
resources and ignorance.

1. Free Funds
Dispensing with the concept of free funds under a multi-currency system. As
already stated above, the term free funds under a dollarized economy is a
misnomer which brings distortion and lack of transparency in the use of
foreign exchange resources. Free funds terminology was relevant under the
Z$ era. The concept of free funds has become a fertile breeding ground for
IFFs. Getting rid of that pseudo foreign exchange classification was therefore
long overdue.

2. Reporting of Suspicious Transactions
All suspicious transactions as generally reported by financial institutions
under the Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) should now be reported to
RBZ before processing of the outgoing transactions by financial institutions.
The current fait accompli of ex-post reporting is not useful because the
country is continuously losing liquidity much to the detriment of the economy.

3. Promotion of Plastic Money and Bank Transfers
Banks should promote the use of plastic money and bank transfers to minimise
the unnecessary burden on consumers of carrying and paying in cash.
Accordingly in order to uphold the integrity of the banking system that takes
account of customer due diligence (CDD), know your customer (KYC)
principle and the lead time for the importation of cash by banks to liquefy the
economy, prior reasonable notice of not less than a day should be given to
financial institutions for all cash withdrawals of an equivalent amount of
above US$10 000. Other jurisdictions, including USA, have resorted to the
management of currency/cash transactions by enforcing maximum reportable
cash limits that can be carried on person and/or withdrawn from financial
institutions to guard against money laundering.

4. Strict Customer Due Diligence
Financial institutions should observe strict CDD, KYC principle and high
level consciousness to ensure that all local and cross border transactions,
including settlement of foreign payments by credit and debit cards, are
bonafide, to the extent possible and practicable.

5. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts
Each person, subject to the jurisdiction of the Zimbabwean financial system,
having an interest in or has authority over one or more financial accounts or
securities or investments in a foreign country should report, through normal
banking channels, to RBZ if the aggregate value of such accounts or securities
at any point in a calendar year exceeds US$10 000. Going forward, any
offshore investments would require prior Bank approval.

6. Monitoring the Operations of Offshore Related Companies
In recent years, the Bank has observed increased service payments between
related companies, especially holding companies and their subsidiaries or
sister companies. Whilst some of the arrangements are meant to result in cost
savings from group shared services, some corporates have been inflating
service fees in order to externalise foreign currency. It is evident that some
local entities are being used as cost centres. Such unwarranted behavior is
punishable in terms of (8) below.

In order to guard against externalisation by related companies through service
payments, management fees, technical fees, service fees or by whatever name
they come under, shall not exceed an aggregate of 3% of revenue and shall
require Bank approval. In addition, the Bank shall, with immediate effect, be
conducting onsite and ex-post validation of the operation of these companies.

7. Registration of Service Agreements by State-owned Enterprises
The Bank is committed to promoting good corporate governance in stateowned enterprises with transactions which usually go through the
Government procurement procedures.

In this regard, the registration of external service agreements by state-owned
enterprises will now require support letters from line Ministries where the
value of the contract is below the State Procurement Board’s minimum
threshold as well as tender approval from the State Procurement Board for
values in excess of the minimum threshold. Subsequent payments can be
made for a period of one year without seeking prior Exchange Control
approval.

8. Penalties for non-compliance
Any financial institutions found to be in complicity by systematically turn
a blind eye to any suspicious transactions or any of the prudential
measures in this Statement shall be fined or penalised in terms of Sections
7, 8 and 9 of the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act [Chapter
9:24].

Measures to Improve Liquidity and Minimise Payment Gridlocks

1. Upward Review of Nostro Limits
Increasing financial institutions’ nostro limits from 5% to 10% of the bank’s
total deposits.

2. Purchase of Rands and Other Currencies by RBZ
Banks are being directed to purchase Rands and/or any other currencies within
the multi-currency basket from the banking public at the official exchange rate
for onward selling to RBZ. This measure is intended to ameliorate the burden
of exchange loses on consumers.

3. Review of Pricing of External Loans
The current pricing structure for external loans does not sufficiently reward
long term lenders to such an extent that the majority of external lenders are
now preferring the provision of short term loans which does not augur well
with the long term capital requirements of the economy.

In order to encourage long term external borrowings for productive purposes,
the pricing structure for external loans has been aligned with the domestic
interest rates ranging from 6%-10% per annum.

Tobacco financing, shareholder loans and notional vendor finance shall
remain the same as per existing external borrowing guidelines.

4. Single investor limit increased from 10% to 15% on ZSE
Current Exchange Control policy allows a single foreign investor to acquire
listed shares on Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) up to 10% per counter.

In order to promote portfolio investments by foreign investors on ZSE with
the overall objective of enhancing market liquidity, going forward a single
investor is now permitted to acquire up to 15% of listed shares per counter.

5. Review of 40% threshold for foreign investors on ZSE, to 49%
In terms of existing Exchange Control policy, foreign investors’ overall
ownership in a listed company is 40%. In order to align the Exchange Control
threshold of 40% to the indigenisation policy framework, foreign investors
can now acquire listed shares on ZSE up to 49% per counter.

6. Upward Review of Full fungibility status from 40% to 49%
Current Exchange Control policy allows full fungibility of 40% on selected
listed counters. The policy is aimed at ensuring maintenance of shares on the
ZSE register, hence encouraging participation by local investors.

Consistent with the indigenisation policy, full fungibility for selected counters
is hereby increased from 40% to 49%. Prior Exchange Control approval shall,
however, be required for full fungibility status.

7. Profit Sharing in Mining, Agriculture and Manufacturing Sectors
Currently, the productive sector of the economy is facing challenges in
accessing sustainable financing required to increase productivity. The absence

of long term and affordable financing structures are partly responsible for low
capacity utilisation obtaining in the economy.

In order to rejuvenate the productive sectors of the economy mainly the
mining, agriculture and manufacturing sectors through innovative structured
finance models, going forward, foreign investors are now permitted to inject
capital into local entities with the view of participating in the risk and return
of the company (profit sharing). It should, however, be noted that the funds to
be provided under these profit sharing models are not equity nor debt funds.
Such arrangements would require prior Bank approval.

8. Enhancement of the RTGS System to Cater for Multiple Currencies
The Bank is finalising the upgrade of the RTGS platform to handle multiple
currencies to conform with the multi-currency system. Each currency would
be transacted on its own for effective management of foreign currency risks.
For the avoidance of doubt, the Zimbabwe multi-currency system is made up
of nine currencies, namely the United States Dollar, South African Rand,
Euro, British Pound Sterling, Chinese Yuan/Renmimbi, Botswana Pula,
Australian Dollar, Indian Rupee and the Japanese Yen. These are all
Zimbabwe’s trading currencies, with the US$ being the settlement currency
for the RTGS and CSD systems.

9. Open Tender System on Government Securities
In order to enhance transparency in capital markets, the Bank is finalising
plans to introduce an open tender system in the trading of Government
securities. This together with the planned listing of the securities on the stock
exchange, shall go a long way in raising fresh capital for economic
transformation.

Measures to Reduce Cost of Funding & Improve Productivity

1. Lending Rates And Bank Charges
The Bank is pleased to advise that following the announcement of guidelines
on interest rates in the July 2015 Monetary Policy Statement, banking
institutions have adjusted their lending rates for both existing and new
borrowers with effect from 1st October 2015.

However, the Bank has noted that lending interest rates at some banks remain
high and unsustainable when the default interest rates and other ancillary
charges are levied. Current penalty rates of between 20 to 35% are
against economic transformation. Against this background, all banking
institutions are required to abide by the interest rate guidelines and to ensure
that the all-inclusive interest rate for productive lending does not exceed 15%
per annum in line with the agreed parameters and the interest rate philosophy
under Aftrades and ZAMCO. Default interest rates should not exceed 18%
on productive lending.

Banking institutions are also required to adequately disclose and
communicate the effective lending rates and associated charges to the
borrowers in order to enhance consumer awareness. Similarly, microfinance
institutions and moneylenders, are required to be responsible in their lending
activities by desisting from charging usurious rates which condemn
borrowers into debt traps. To this end, the Reserve Bank is engaging the
microfinance sector to relook their pricing models and re-orient their lending
portfolios towards the productive sector.

On their part, borrowers are strongly reminded to exhibit credit discipline and
adhere to the facility terms and conditions to avoid going into the default
category which attracts penalty charges. The banking public should cherish
the culture of good stewardship and repaying culture to enhance selfdiscipline which ensures that money circulates within the economy.

2. Zero Charges on Basic “No Frills” Savings Accounts
In an endeavour to promote access to banking services by a majority of
Zimbabweans, the Bank in the past urged that banking institutions to offer
basic accounts with minimum maintenance charges.

However, the Bank has noted that banks were compensating by charging
different types of charges which resulted in the depletion of clients’ savings
with banks. The levying of charges on savings accounts dissuades people from
investing their surplus funds in the banking sector. In order to promote the
use of banking system and bolster confidence, banking institutions should
not levy administrative charges on basic “no frills” savings accounts. The
Bank shall continue to monitor bank charges to ensure that they do not become
a barrier to access financial services.

3. Upscaling MSME Banking
In view of the recent structural shift in the economy which gave rise to a large
and expanding Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector, banks have
an important role to serve the domestic growth drivers particularly with focus
on productivity in Small to medium enterprises (SMEs). Against this
background, banking institutions are encouraged to focus their attention on
MSMEs by developing and implementing SME specific lending models and
policies.

While we note the current efforts by the banking sector to support the SME
sector, financial institutions are urged to up-scale lending to this sector. There
is scope for banks to convert the current constrains in the SME sector into
opportunities for their sustainable business growth.

Banks are urged to capacitate their strategic business units that manage
SME business. In order to effectively serve the SMEs, there is need for a
target based credit initiative by banks. Banking institutions are required to set
their annual target lending to SMEs categorised by gender, enterprise size
and business sector among other variables, and submit their targets to the
Reserve Bank by 31 March 2016.

In particular, banking institutions are encouraged to work with MSMEs linked
to the value chain of their corporates and leverage on the relationships to better
manage and control their credit exposures. In addition, banking institutions
should reinforce these initiatives with capacity building among the MSMEs
clients, to facilitate running of viable businesses and implementation of
business best practice.

4. Reduction of Annual Branch Fees in Rural Areas

The Bank has noted that the establishment of remittance access points in the
rural areas remains very low. A high concentration of access points in rural
areas would increase competition and force the cost of remittances down and
ultimately reduce dependency on informal remittances channels and promote
financial inclusion.

Currently Authorised Dealers with Limited Authorities (ADLAs) are required
to pay annual branch fees, initially at US$400 and US$200 per year thereafter.

In order to increase remittances access points in rural areas, the ADLA branch
fees in rural areas is reviewed downwards to, initially at USD100 and USD50
per year thereafter, to make the cost of establishing ADLA branches in rural
areas sustainable.
Measures to Enhance Gold and Diamond Production
1. Gold Production

In view of the need to boost export earnings and accumulate foreign exchange
reserves, the need to enhance the country’s gold production ranks high on the Bank’s
priorities. Importantly, increased gold production is envisaged to meaningfully
contribute to the recovery of the sector and the economy at large.

Despite the decline in international gold prices by over 40% realized over the past
three year, gold deliveries to Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR) has been steadily
rising in concomitance with rising production levels. Against this background, gold
production as indicated in Figure 16 increased by 34% from 13.9 tonnes in 2014 to
18.6 tonnes in 2015 and earning the country around US$692 million. The expansion
in gold output was underpinned by the increased contribution of the small scale
sector from an average of 25% realized over the past five years to about 40% in
2015.

Increase gold output by small scale miners largely benefited from concerted efforts
in monitoring of the sector by the Gold Mobilisation Committee comprising officials
from the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, the Zimbabwe Republic
Police’s Border Patrol Unit and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. The good
performance by the small scale sector also reflects that sector’s positive response to
the decrease in royalty fees effected by Government during the course of the year.

Figure 21: Gold Production in Kgs (2011-2015)

Source: Fidelity Printers and Refiners

In order to boost production in the gold sector, the Bank is committed to continue
engaging its international financial partners to avail affordable long-term financial
resources to support increased activity in the sector. So far, the Bank, has availed
US$25 million financing facility to the gold sector during the second half of 2015.

In a bid to address viability concerns in the sector, Government settled outstanding
obligations to gold miners under the RBZ Debt Assumption Act in 2015, through
the issuance of treasury bills. The Bank expects that the issuance of these treasury
bills will go a long way to unlock liquidity to the gold sector and boost confidence
in the economy. The Bank is also aware of other attendant challenges affecting both
the small scale and large scale miners. In this regard, corrective measures are being
instituted to deal with these impediments.

Gold Production Policy Measures
In order to attain targeted gold output of 24 tonnes in 2016, the Bank will institute
the following deliberate measures geared at boosting production:


Large Scale Producers
Small Scale Miners
Total

Increasing access to long-term financing by continuing to source affordable long
term external funding for the mining sector. The Bank is, therefore, targeting to
deploy more resources to the gold sector.

Mechanisation of the small scale sector - The Bank, through Fidelity Printers and
Refiners, is finalizing engagements with suppliers of mining equipment targeted at
small scale miners. Emphasis is on coming up with appropriate support
arrangements.

Decriminalisation of gold possession - In order to increase gold deliveries to
Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR) from small scale and artisanal miners that have
for a long time been disenfranchised due to the criminalization of many of their
activities as a result of stringent laws, the Bank is putting in place the following
measures which are compliant with the responsible gold trading scheme.
i.
Fidelity Printers and Refiners to buy gold from artisanal miners on a ‘no
questions asked basis’ through mobile buying centres to be deployed across
the country;
ii.
FPR to issue permits to buyers to cover mining areas that have high activity
of artisanal miners; and
iii.
FPR, shall in the process, gradually develop a database and account for
production by artisanal miners

Continuous Monitoring

The Bank will tighten the monitoring of gold sector players including custom millers
in view of continued reports of illegal activities, poor record-keeping and underreporting to Fidelity Printers and Refiners as well as overpricing of their services to
miners.

2. Diamond Production

The Bank is deeply concerned about the failure of the diamond subsector to
contribute to meaningful development of the economy like what happens in
other regional countries where diamonds revenue contribute up to 30% of fiscal
revenue. Unlike gold and tobacco which have significantly contributed to the
liquidity in the economy, diamonds have been a great disappointment.

The Bank is therefore strongly supportive of Government initiative to consolidate
the mining of diamonds in the country. This was long overdue. The consolidation
is critical to enhance transparency and accountability in the contribution of this
precious mineral to fiscus and economic development.

In order to attain a diamond target output of 6 000 000 carats as projected in the 2016
National Budget through the consolidated company, the Bank, in close liason with
the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC), the Ministry of Mines and
Mining Development and MMCZ, shall institute the following deliberate measures.

i.
Increased access to long term and working capital financing in an amount of
US$30 million by the ZCDC is underway from development financial
institutions for ZCDC to ramp up diamond production.
ii.
Capacitating Aurex (Pvt) Limited to enhance value addition of diamonds
supplied by ZCDC.
iii.
All the diamond export sales proceeds by ZCDC would be accounted for by
the Bank in a transparent manner similar to gold under Fidelity Printers and
Refiners. The Bank’s great desire is to ensure that ZCDC grows and
become what FPR is to RBZ. These two, FPR and ZCDC, should become
agents for economic transformation in Zimbabwe.

Policy Measures to Comply With Indigenisation Policy

Following the gazetting of the Notice on Frameworks, Procedures and
Guidelines for implementing the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment
Policy, it is imperative that the Bank provides an in-depth illustration of the
operationalization of the guidelines as they relate to the empowerment credits
or quotas that contribute towards the 51% indigenisation threshold as is
required by law under Section 3(5) of the Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment (IEE) Act and Section 5(4) of the IEE Regulations.

In order to be eligible for the empowerment credits as stipulated in the Notice
of Gazette, affected financial institutions would be expected to comply with
the imperatives given in Table 12 for Pathway 1. Levels of some of the
subheads are still being finalised.

Table 12
Financial Sector:- Compliance Through the Socially and Economically
Desirable Objectives (Credits/Quotas)

Sector/Criteria as per Notice of Gazette
Target/Measurement
Maximum
Empowerment
Credit/Quota
(%age Points)
1. Lending to Agriculture and/or
Energy
Minimum of 20% of the financial
institution’s total loan portfolio

2. Lending to small, medium and
micro enterprises (SMMEs)
Minimum of 5% of the financial
institution’s total loan portfolio

3. Lending To Youth Programmes
Minimum of 5% of the financial
institution’s total loan portfolio

4. Lending To Women Programmes
Minimum of 5% of the financial
institution’s total loan portfolio

5. Lending To Low Cost Housing
Minimum of 5% of the financial
institution’s total loan portfolio

6. Support to Vocational Training
x% of profit after tax contribution
towards the development of
vocational training

7. Preferential Local Procurement
At least 50% procurement of the
institution’s domestic
requirements from local
companies (e.g. uniforms,
stationery, etc.)

8. Carbon Neutral Environment
Minimum of 2% of loan book for
financing or implementing
renewable energy projects that
offset the amount of carbon
dioxide emission e.g.
reforestation, planting trees, solar
energy, etc.

9.
Enterprise Development
Minimum of x% of profit after tax
contribution towards training of
SMMEs, incubator models, early
payment to SMMEs, etc

10.
Educational Bursaries
x% of profit after tax contribution
towards educational support (e.g.
BEAM)

11.
National Economic
Empowerment Charter
x% of profit after tax contribution
towards corporate social
responsibility programmes e.g.
drilling of boreholes, children’s
homes, etc.

Total credits towards attaining the 51% indigenisation & empowerment
threshold

The alternative to the above is for an institution to comply through Pathway 2 of
rebate earnings deductible from the compliance and empowerment levy as presented
in the Gazette, General Notice 1 of 2016.

SECTION 10

POLICY ADVICE
1. RESUSCITATION OF AN ECONOMIC CRIMES COURT

There is urgent and compelling need for Government to resuscitate an Economic Crimes
Court in order to ensure that the “plugging the leakages approach” advocated in this
Monetary Policy Statement is legally supported.

The investigation and prosecution of crimes involving strategic minerals like gold and
diamonds, for example, necessitates the seizure by the state of the recovered minerals
which are then kept as exhibits to be used in the trial.

The current congestion in the criminal resolution system, results in protracted processes
before finalisation of economic crime cases. During this process the country lacks
access to the resources which could be generated from the liquidation of the looted
products or exhibits.

The problem is further compounded by the fact that both the Precious Stones Trade Act
[Chapter 21:06] and the Gold Trade Act [Chapter 21:03] provide for elaborate
procedures to be followed upon the conviction of a felon before the precious stones are
forfeited to the State. The minerals concerned have to be delivered to the Secretary for
Mines who has to publicise their existence by way of publication in the Gazette. The
Secretary has to wait for any claims to the minerals for two (2) months. If a credible
claim is received, then the minerals are surrendered to the claimant. If there is a disputed
claim, the matter is referred to the High Court after twenty one (21) days.

What this calls for therefore, is the institution of a mechanism which expedites the
disposal of economic crimes involving minerals so that the exhibits are quickly put at
the disposal of the State.

As was the case when Economic Crimes Court were first introduced in 2003, the
specialised Economic Crimes Court would be administratively set up using existing
legislation. They would be introduced using the existing court structure i.e. as a division
within the Regional Magistrates Courts and as a Division within the High Court.

Special rules could be promulgated to simplify procedure and facilitate expeditious
conclusions of cases. Economic crime cases dealing with minerals would thus be
removed from the long queue of cases in the normal courts and dealt with in the
specialised courts created for the purpose. The economic crimes courts will reduce the
time frames within which minerals are held unproductively as exhibits in the justice
system, all for the benefit of the nation.

2. REVITALISING AGRICULTURE FOR ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION & POVERTY
REDUCTION
Agriculture is key to economic recovery, income growth and overall economic
transformation. This is the import of the statement by the African Development Bank
President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, at the Feeding Africa Conference in Dakar,
Senegal when he said “when agriculture is managed with modern production
technologies and appropriate input and output markets, it is transformative and it
wipes out poverty and overhauls entire rural economies.”

In view of the foregoing, it is therefore necessary that after the implementation of
the Fast Track Land Reform by Government, the next step should be to restore and
preserve productivity on the farms in order to create real wealth and jobs. This
should be done by capacitating farmers through the extension of affordable credit,

training, technical expertise as well as assessing the number of productive and
unproductive farms for efficient allocation of scarce resources.

Farming is a business. It is now high time that the nation put in place measures that
will move farmers out of subsistence practices and have them operate as formal
business entities. This should be done by decisively addressing some of the
challenges that continue to collectively stifle the performance of agriculture. Chief
among these challenges are lack of access to affordable finance, insatiable appetite
to occupy land at the expense of production, and poor supporting infrastructure for
the majority of farmers.

Addressing of these challenges by Government and the financial institutions would
transform farming, both small and large, into viable business for the benefit of the
economy and to ensure food security.

Bringing Finality to the Land Reform to Promote Productivity

Bringing finality to the land reform programme would go a long way in addressing
uncertainties that continue to adversely affect this sector from achieving its potential
in transforming the economy. Some of the measures that could be taken to reduce
uncertainty and increase investment and productivity in agriculture include;

i.
Expediting the valuation process of the remaining farms and coming up
with a financing model for compensating the previous farmers for farm
improvements.
ii.
Creating security of tenure so that the land can be used as collateral
security in accessing financing from financial institutions. Hence the
crafting of a land policy which enables the creation of a land market is
key to unlocking financing through formal channels. The urgent

resolution on the bankability of 99 Year Leases will enable active
participation of the financial institutions in agricultural development;
iii.
Complete mapping of the newly created farming units in order to
control disputes over boundaries which distract farmers from
productive use of their time. The Ministry of Lands has already began
using a new system which relies on the use of modern GPS to map A1
and A2 plots layouts. This is highly commendable as it enhances the
security of tenure of both the A1 and A2 farmers; and
iv.
Cooling off the continuing disruptions and threats to farmers,
particularly in the dairy, cattle breeding, horticulture and tobacco subsectors.

Reducing Over- Reliance on Rain-Fed Agriculture

In line with the Climate Resilient National Water Resources and Irrigation Master Plan
that the Government is implementing, there is scope for Government to dedicate more
efforts towards establishment and resuscitation of irrigation infrastructure across the
country in order to increase irrigable land.

The development of irrigation infrastructure allows farmers to supplement rain fed
agriculture and permits continuous crop production and facilitates increased
productivity. In addition, irrigation enables the country to expand agriculture
activities as dry areas can be turned into highly productive areas.

Zimbabwe has a huge potential to improve agriculture activities through irrigation
given the existing dams scattered across all provinces. While the capacity of water
bodies was enough to irrigate 330 000 hectares in 2012, utilisation was estimated at
only 135 580 hectares. As of January 2016, the country had only 78 204 under
irrigation, with Mashonaland West and Central provinces having the most

underutilized dams in terms of irrigation. Resuscitation of the idle irrigation
infrastructure and expeditiously bring it into utilization is critical to increase
production.

In the case of irrigation infrastructure, priority should also be given to the adoption of
technologies such as drip and canal irrigation which use less power as compared to the
overhead sprinklers. In the same vein, the use of solar powered irrigation pumps should
also be encouraged to complement the hydro- and thermal power generated by the
Zimbabwe Electricity and Distribution Company (ZETDC).

Furthermore, irrigation development should be accompanied with the use of
greenhouse technologies that leverage on natural heat, less water, intensive application
of inputs and intensive management of the production throughout the year. Intensive
production also entails use of small hectarage which the farmer can afford to manage
but giving out higher yields.

As part of contribution to community schemes, extractive firms should undertake
rehabilitation of dams and development of irrigation infrastructure within their
communities in return for the socially and economically empowerment credits. This
will go a long way in ameliorating against the recurring droughts as a result of
climate change and in reducing the negative consequences of floods.

Improving access to inputs and adopting good agricultural practises

Most smallholder farmers lack sufficient skills and managerial technics that are
needed to produce high quality products with complex grades and standards that are
required to enter lucrative markets. They use rudimentary farm technology with very
low levels of farm inputs, often combined with poor agricultural practices which
depletes soil nutrients. Consequently, crop yields are low and of poor quality, which

leaves them with very low yields thereby reducing the crop surplus available for
selling on the market.

There is therefore need to put in place an effective agricultural extension system
which can reach farmers all over the countryside, whose main objective is to provide
technical advice to farmers to promote the adoption of good agricultural practises,
linked with the provision of appropriate improved seed varieties. To improve the
effectiveness of the agricultural extension services to smallholder farmers,
Government must also finance agricultural research, take the lead in controlling the
spread of plant and animal diseases, strengthen the rural feeder road infrastructure
and continue to strengthen land tenure rights for smallholders.

Stepping Up Mechanisation in the Agricultural Sector

Mechanisation and technological advancement have been the missing link in the
efficient utilisation, preservation and value addition in the exploitation of the
country's agricultural resources, particularly in the smallholder sector. There is need
to continue to assist deserving farmers to mechanise their activities in order to
continuously improve on productivity. Schemes like the More Food for Africa
financed by Brazil should be emulated.

Other Measures to Revolutionise Agriculture

i.
Providing a guarantee or risk sharing facility for banks involved in
direct lending to farmers to reduce the perceived risk. The Nigerian
Government, for instance, established a risk sharing facility of US$350
million under the Nigerian Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for
Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) during the past few years to encourage
financial institutions to move into agriculture. Consequently, bank

lending to agriculture increase from about 0.7% in 2011 to about 7.5%
as of May 2014;

ii.
Facilitating the training of bankers to understand the farming cycle and
how to relate with smallholder farmers. With sufficient information
with regarding to these farmers, these institutions will be in a position
to increase their efforts in tailor-making their products to the needs of
the smallholder farmers;

iii.
Expediting the establishment of Credit Reference Bureau and
Collateral Register for all farmers in the country and make the
information available online. The national register of all farmers must
have the biometric information to rid of corruption when farmers are
accessing inputs, particularly under Government schemes;

iv.
Facilitating the development of agriculture diaspora bonds to securitize
remittances; and

v.
Developing infrastructure that is necessary for the operation of the
Warehouse Receipt System, like the Zimbabwe Agriculture
Commodity Exchange (ZIMACE). This item which has been on
Government agenda now needs to be brought to finality for the
purposes of facilitating competitive and efficient trade in agricultural
commodities and to provide reliable and timely marketing information.

vi.
Expedite the crafting of legislative framework governing contract
farming to all crops and livestock production activities in the country.
The envisaged framework should address critical issues such as side
marketing that have drastically reduced funding in the cotton industry;

vii.
Create favourable macro-economic policies that facilitate growth of
producer organizations that are able to enter into purchase agreements
with farmers and receive financing from investors. Technical assistance
providers and developmental partners can support the formation and
management of these producer organizations while Governments can
institute policies that support training, management, and access to
markets for producer organizations. Typical of such schemes is when
smallholder farmers who control about 90% of cattle take in their
animals to feedlots where they are fattened for up to 90 days, then sent
to an abattoir. In return, farmers can get a certificate underwritten by
the abattoir to raise loans from banks. This would enable farmers to
invest more in their farming enterprises;

viii.
Facilitate the implementation of Value Chain Finance (VCF) where
contracts and relationships can be commoditized by segments of the
value chain that are closely linked. Financing can be provided against
guaranteed purchase agreements with farmers. VCF allows
smallholders to use guaranteed purchase agreements as collateral and
secure cheaper financing; increases availability of credit, as
smallholders can access finance through various contacts on the value
chain; and improved accessibility, as customers can understand and
utilize tailored financial offerings;

ix.
Support and facilitate the establishment of affordable ICT-based
platforms such as mobile or other types of platforms for disseminating
farm-to-fork price information to farmers. This will allow farmers to
produce what is required and reduce transaction costs for farmers. Such

transparent platforms reduce information asymmetry that typically
weakens smallholder producers’ negotiating power;

x.
Construct innovative partnerships and legislation for knowledge
transfer to ensure that buyers and food companies dealing with farmers
are also improving the capacity of these farmers. Innovative legislation
or public private partnerships can, therefore, work together to ensure
that retailers and processors are educating their farmers, and increasing
the long-term capacity of agriculture;

xi.
Organize farmers into groups that can collectively access input and
output markets with a view to reduce transaction costs; and

xii.
Strengthen farmer organizations to improve smallholders negotiating
power with large buyers and food companies. Policy makers can
address governance issues of such organizations by crafting legislation
that increases transparency. They should also identify areas where they
can assist in building farmer organizations’ leadership capacity to
facilitate financial inclusion.

3.
ENHANCING THE EASE OF DOING BUSINESS
In line with continuous efforts by Government to improve the ease of
doing business in Zimbabwe, the following policy advice matrix shown in
Table 13 is critical to enhance competitiveness and foreign exchange
earnings.

Table 13: Proposed Advice on Measures to Improve Ease of Doing Business and Increase Exports
POLICY ADVICE
CURRENT SITUATION & SUGGESTED ACTIONS
EXPECTED OUTCOME
Enhanced Capacitation of
Trade Attachés

Zimbabwe has Embassy offices in 43 countries and four (4) Consulates in four
(4) countries. Empowerment through enhanced capacitation of Trade Attachés
for the provision of market information would go a long way towards increasing
exports.

More
bilateral
trade
between
Zimbabwe and other countries, hence
an increase in exports.
Streamlining of Excess
Export Documentation

The number of documents required for an export can be reduced from the current
seven (7) to four (4) as follows:
1. Bill of Lading
2. Commercial export invoice
3. Integrated Exchange Control Form CD1
4. Transit entry (South Africa’s Form SAD500)

Timeous exports and reduction of
export costs.
Revitalisation
of
the
National
Railways
of
Zimbabwe

Currently, Zimbabwean exporters mainly use road transport which is more
expensive than rail transport. Revitalisation of the rail transport system would
positively impact on reducing cost, thereby ensuring exporter viability and
external competitiveness.

Improved
exporter
viability,
increased exports and improved and
sustained market liquidity.

Addressing Bureaucratic
Bottlenecks

Bureaucratic delays on facilitation of exports promote corruption, resulting in
exporters having to pay bribes. Such bribes increase costs and frustrates
Improved and sustained market
liquidity, Improved ease of doing

POLICY ADVICE
CURRENT SITUATION & SUGGESTED ACTIONS
EXPECTED OUTCOME
exporters. There is need for easily accessible guidelines on how to conduct
export transactions to protect exporters from corrupt officials.

business and Reduced cost of doing
business.

Incentivise the use of
Rands and Yuan in the
Tourism Sector

Most of the tourists coming into Zimbabwe are from South Africa and China.
In this regard, there is need for Government to provide incentives, such as
exemption from VAT, for the Tourism Sector for tourists paying in Rands and
Yuan. This is necessary to enhance competitiveness in view of the expensive
US$
Improved tourism sector viability
and foreign exchange inflows.

Expeditious Approval of
Annual Hunting Quotas

Approval of hunting quotas on time plays a critical role in assisting marketing
actions and programs by Safari Operators. In this regard, it is recommended that
the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate should expeditiously approve
annual hunting quotas by November.

Approval of hunting quotas on time
plays a critical role in assisting
marketing actions and programs by
Safari Operators.
Review of Hunting Fees
Payable to National Parks

There is a general agreement by players in the hunting industry that hunting fees
being charged by Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority has out
priced Zimbabwe from the international market.
In this regard, there is need for Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management
Authority to consult key stakeholders and revise its hunting fees downwards.
Improved exporter viability and
increased exports.

Adoption
of
New
Technology to Combat
Poaching
In order to curb the current rampant poaching, Zimbabwe should adopt modern
satellites tracking systems, such as the mathematics and Unmanned Arial
Eradication of poaching, lifting of
suspension
on
importation
of
elephant trophies by US Department

POLICY ADVICE
CURRENT SITUATION & SUGGESTED ACTIONS
EXPECTED OUTCOME

Vehicles (UAVs) as a solution package for combating poaching. Relying only
on rangers patrol will not solve the problem.

of Fisheries and Wildlife Services
and increased exports of hunting
trophies.
Free
Trade
&
Warehousing
Zone
(FTWZ) Scheme

A foreign company can store its goods in Zimbabwean bonded warehouse and
can later sell it to its Zimbabwean customers and export market whenever it
receives the orders.
The goods are allowed to be kept in warehouses of FTWZ for two years. The
scheme facilitates duty free import of all goods except prohibition items and
allows re-exporting without any restrictions.
This scheme shall generally provide infrastructure facilities for warehousing of
goods and transform Zimbabwe into a global trading-hub.
Increased export of services and
improved market liquidity.

Export
of
Service
Promotion
Scheme
(ESPS)

The scheme confines to the all other export service providers except hotels,
cross-border transporters, restaurants and other service providers in tourism
sector.
The export service providers who earn a minimum of USD1 million per year
shall be entitled to a 10% duty credit scrip that may be used for duty free import
of capital goods.
The ESPS is aimed at accelerating growth in export of service.
Increased export of services and
improved market liquidity.

Horticultural
Export
Promotion Scheme

The exporters of vegetables, flowers, fruits and their value added products shall
be entitled for duty credit scrip, which is equivalent to 5% of the FOB value of
Increased exports of goods and
improved market liquidity.

POLICY ADVICE
CURRENT SITUATION & SUGGESTED ACTIONS
EXPECTED OUTCOME
exports that will be used for duty free import of inputs or goods including capital
goods.
This scheme simply allows import of inputs or goods against export of some
agricultural products for increasing the exports of such products.

4. CONTINUOUS RE-ENGAGEMENT WITH BILATERAL AND MULTILATERAL CREDITORS
In view of the development constraint imposed by the country’s external debt burden,
Zimbabwe escalated the re-engagement process to clear external debt arrears within the
context of meetings held with international financial creditors on the side-lines of the
2015 IM/World Bank annual meetings held in Lima, Peru over the period 8 to 12
October 2015. In these meetings, Zimbabwe successfully engaged the three
International Financial Institutions (IFIs) namely African Development Bank (AfDB),
World Bank group (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) and outlined the
country’s strategy for clearing outstanding arrears to the IFIs.

For clarity purposes, the following arrangements have been put in place to clear the
arrears of US$1.8 billion that the country owes the IFIs.

i.
Utilization of the country’s special drawing rights (SDR) from the IMF to
repay US$110 million to the IMF;
ii.
Utilisation of a bridge loan of US$819 million arranged by the African
Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to repay AfDB (US$601 million) and the
World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) (US$218
million); and
iii.
Utilisation of a long term loan from a bilateral lender to repay the International
Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) in an amount of US$891
million

After clearance of these arrears to the IFI’s the country would then turn to bilateral
creditors to negotiate and settle the country’s obligation with the Paris Club. Settlement
of these arrears would be done around June 2016 at a time the IFIs are expected to reach
their respective decision points or board approvals. Repaying before the review of the
Staff Monitored Programme (SMP) by the IMF and other proceeding processes is

inconsequential. It is therefore imperative for Government to continue to re-engage the
development partners for a positive outcome at the IFIs boards.

This strategy would need to be escalated and supported by putting in place policy
measures that are consistent with ZimAsset and the 10 point plan. This entails coming
up with a country strategy paper that spells out the necessary steps and policies that are
essential for economic transformation, debt sustainability and the reduction of poverty.

SECTION 11

CONCLUSION
The key message of this Monetary Policy Statement is that Zimbabwe needs to plug
the leakages of foreign exchange for the economy to undergo durable and robust
transformation. The leaks of our national economy are IFFs, unwarranted
remittances, smuggling, porous border posts, tax evasion and misappropriation of
loan proceeds. Exporting and/or withdrawal of liquidity through these leaks is
suffocating or hemorrhaging the economy to the extent of reducing aggregate
demand and thus causing deflation in the economy. Plugging these leakages requires
harnessing the capability and energy of everyone. It requires high level of discipline
by individuals and firms, including financial institutions that process the transactions
and regulatory authorities such as RBZ and ZIMRA.

If consumers and business spend their income outside of their country (through
leakages), then the country must look elsewhere to make up for the loss of funds.
Under normal circumstances, governments would have to inject cash into the
economy which is not feasible in Zimbabwe for obvious reasons. The most
reasonable and logical way to rebalance the national economy is therefore, to plug
the foreign exchange leakages in the country in order to make headway in the quest
for economic transformation and fighting deflation.

Notwithstanding the downside risks caused by the said leakages and the adverse
external environment typified by the downturn in international commodity prices
and the adverse weather conditions, immense opportunities abound for the
Zimbabwean economy in the outlook period. This is largely attributable to the
benefits expected from the consolidation of bold milestones made in efforts to
negotiate for an amicable resolution of the country’s debt burden, expansion of gold

and diamond revenue streams, implementation of the financial inclusion strategy,
and plugging of foreign exchange leakages.

It is pleasing to note that the country has so far received numerous investment
missions in the wake of the overwhelming endorsement of the external debt
clearance program in Lima, Peru, in October last year. Within this context, the
country needs to put in place pro-active strategies to leverage on these lucrative
opportunities that are important to support economic transformation.

The amicable resolution of the country’s external debt, is expected to significantly
enhance the country’s creditworthiness, resulting in the unlocking of affordable
credit lines, revival of industrial activity, shedding off import dependence and
generally improved liquidity conditions. Going forward, the country’s productive
sectors are, expected to secure affordable credit lines which translates to lower
production costs and discernible gains on the competitiveness front.

Additionally, the successful resolution and restructuring of the country’s external
debt is expected to unlock development and project finance, critical in supporting
infrastructural development and the creation of an enabling investment environment.

On the other hand, sustained financial sector stability currently obtaining in the
economy, coupled with the alignment of lending rates by banks to agreed thresholds
and the implementation of financial inclusion strategies is envisaged to play an
integral role in efforts to foster private sector led growth.

Additionally, the invocation of Section 5 (4) of the General Regulations of the
Indigenisation and Empowerment Act to promote integrated value chain process in
the manufacturing and services sectors of the economy is expected to help turn
around and transform the economy in 2016. In the same vein, the announcement of

the Framework, Procedures, and Guidelines for the implementation of the
Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Act by the Honourable Minister of
Youth, Indigenization and Economic Empowerment earlier this month, is expected
to bring finality to this key policy measure and in turn help attract the much- needed
investment into the productive and export sectors of the economy.

The re-orientation of the Zimbabwean economy onto a sustainable and inclusive
growth path is, therefore, contingent upon the consistent implementation of bold
policy reform measures embodied in ZimAsset, the 10 Point Plan, the Rapid Results
Approach Framework, the 2016 National Budget and this Monetary Policy
Statement. Our conviction and optimism is that the country is at a critical
juncture that requires a deeper sense of responsibility, accountability and
transparency
by
all
stakeholders
for
economic
development
and
transformation.

I THANK YOU


DR. J.P. MANGUDYA
GOVERNOR
RESERVE BANK OF ZIMBABWE

JANUARY 2016