BY PRECIOUS CHIDA
ZIMBABWE Cross Border Traders’ Association (ZCBTA) founder Killer Zivhu yesterday said fiscal policies by the Finance ministry without consulting cross-boarder traders will never succeed in stabilising the runaway foreign currency exchange rate.
In an interview with NewsDay yesterday, Zivhu said cross-border traders were the drivers of the foreign currency exchange rate, but were not consulted when monetary policies embarked on programmes aimed at stabilising the economy.
“We have been crying since two years ago, we have done everything we could to request for a meeting with Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor and the Finance minister Mthuli Ncube, to no avail,” he said.
“We wanted to assist these gentlemen to stabilise the black market rate because the main buyers of foreign currency are traders. More than three million people are surviving by buying and selling, so there is high demand for foreign currency on the streets. As an association, we have the methods that can help the government to stabilise the black market, but the unfortunate part is we are regarded as illegal informal traders and no one is intending to listen to us.”
Zivhu added: “Looking from a distance, all measures that the RBZ and the minister are trying to implement are hitting a brickwall. So why not swallow your pride and meet the cross-border traders.”
“The problem we have in our laws is that our sector is not legally formalised, yet there is a ministry responsible for our sector. The definition of small and medium enterprises is not defined to suit vendors on the streets and yet they are the majority,” he said.
