The Zambian Kwacha has gained value in recent months and is now stronger than the South African Rand and other currencies in the southern African region.
The Zambian Kwacha has continued to demonstrate its overall stability for a couple of months now.
The appreciation is largely attributed to low demand for dollars on the market.
A recent check shows that the Zambian Kwacha is now 1: 1.04 South African Rand while USD1 is now 16.30 Zambian Kwacha.
In contrast, the Zimbabwean dollar continues to lose value against other currencies causing great confusion as to what could be wrong in Zimbabwe.
Former Deputy Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Energy Mutodi expressed disappointment while comparing Zimbabwe and Zambian currencies. He said:
Difficult to explain why the Zim currency is on free fall even with better mineral resources, and hard-working & educated people.
Bank of Zambia (BoZ) Governor Dr Denny Kalyalya has attributed the recent appreciation of the Kwacha to a higher inflow of foreign exchange from the mines as well lumpy demand, mainly for energy, during the month of June.
According to the Bank of Zambia website, as of 15:30 hours on Friday, the Kwacha was buying at 16.34 and selling at 16.39, against the US dollar.
While there is a low demand for the United States dollar in Zambia, the reverse is true in Zimbabwe.
Everybody, that is, the government, business and private citizens, want to get hold of the United States dollar.
This is mainly because the Zimbabwean industry is collapsed. Almost everything used in Zimbabwe is imported since the local industry cannot meet local demand. Imports demand foreign currency.
The huge backlog at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) SME and the Main foreign currency auction done every Tuesday is evidence of the huge demand for the greenback.
Some attribute the instability of the Zimbabwe dollar to “bad leadership” which they say has corroded public confidence in the local unit.
Meanwhile, as earlier reported by Pindula News, the RBZ is set to introduce gold coins on the 25th of July as a measure to stabilise the Zimbabwe dollar and to restore the investors’ and public’s value.