‘’John Mangudya Idofo’’-Global Finance
By Aleck Murimigwa
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) boss John Mangudya has been rated as the worst governor in Africa (2021) by the non-political Global Finance’s Central Banker Report Cards.
Global Finance, through its magazine, The Central Banker Report Cards, publishes its central bank governor’s ratings yearly beginning in 1994 covering over 100 countries drawn from the European Union, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the Bank of Central African States, and the Central Bank of West African States.
The ratings for governors are guided by successes in inflation control, economic growth, and currency stability which Mangudya failed dismally.
Mangudya who is battling to control the foreign currency exchange rate against the Zimbabwean dollar, pledged to resign if the bond notes failed in 2016.
Since then, inflation has been on the rise with civil servants buying power diminishing.
The economy has, since the introduction of the bond note traded with multiple prices causing distortions in the economy.
The bond note is a surrogate currency used in Zimbabwe which was initially introduced as a stopgap measure to address the cash crunch in the economy.
At the time of its introduction in 2016, the bond note (the Zimbabwean currency), was trading at 1:1 with the United States Dollar.
Four years later, US$1 is now trading at ZWL$200 on the black market while the central bank rate insists it is at 1:110.
The central bank of Zimbabwe introduced the Foreign Exchange Auction System in June 2020 in a bid to arrest the runaway black market forex rate but to no avail.
In a statement at the end of 2021, the central bank said billions of United States dollars had been traded through the exchange auction system many economists argue is skewed.
“From the inception of the Foreign Exchange Auction System on 23 June 2020 to the end of December 2021, an amount of US$ 2 596 380 813 was allotted to the key sectors of the economy with US$ 2 238 180 267 allotted through the Main Auction and US$ 358 200 546 through SMEs Auction,” reads part of the statement.
Mangudya has presided over numerous central bank policies that have been unpopular among the citizens who have staged successive demonstrations in protest.
‘’John Mangudya Idofo’’-Global Finance #ElectionsZW
