The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has increased the reserve money during the prior week by 16% to ZWL28.3 bn from ZWL24.4 bn.This was necessitated by a growth of ZWL8.8 bn in required reserves following the increase in statutory reserve requirement ratios. The rise comes at a time when the government is set to to giveNovember salaries and bonuses for the civil servants.
Meanwhile, ZESA has revealed that it will invest US$7.1 bn in the next 10 yrs to simultaneously address excessive current blackouts and invest in the long. This is despite high shortages of foreign currency currently haunting the country. The embattled power utility resorted to massive power cuts caused by recurrent electric faults at Hwange Power Station due to ageing infrastructure.
South Africa rand firmed up today by 1% to 15.3 against the United States dollar from 15.4 after the government pledged to cut the budget deficit and curb debt in its mid-term budget. The rand pulled away from an 8-month low of 15.4 which was a result of high inflationary pressures, political upheavals and intense load shedding in the country.
Global oil prices have slipped by 0.7% today to $81.59 a barrel after a surge in prices for the past weeks which almost soared to a seven year high. The slide in oil prices comes amid expectations of high supplies and weaker demand after speculations that President Joe Biden’s administration might release oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to cool prices.
ZESA ready to invest US$7.1
Rand firms amid budget optimism
Global oil prices sees a breather
