2023 BUSINESS REVIEW CONFERENCE - SPECIAL GUEST'S REMARKS – Dr. John P. Mangudya, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor

The Governor was in strong support of the ZNCC State of Industry and Commerce Survey.

He put forward that the State of Industry and Commerce Report which was being launched on 07 December 2023 was shaped by both global and domestic macroeconomic and financial conditions as well as confidence levels in the economy. Further, he reported that domestic economic fundamentals are quite strong to support industry and commerce and to sustain the envisaged growth trajectory.

The domestic banking sector has proved resilient to the current global monetary tightening and inflation and continued to support industry and commerce.

As the State of Industry and Commerce Report was shaped by measures put in place by both the Government and the Bank to manage the economy, such measures were reported to have created the much-needed economic resilience and a conducive environment for industry to thrive. In this regard, Dr. John P. Mangudya stressed that the inflation and exchange rate stabilization program will remain underpinned by a tight monetary policy stance, with interest rates aligned to the expected inflation path; continued issuance of gold coins and gold-backed digital coins to provide alternative investment instruments to foreign currency and mop excess liquidity and; a liberalized foreign exchange market to ensure sustenance of the price discovery of an equilibrium market clearing rate. Therefore, the Bank will stay the course of a tight monetary policy until long-term and durable stability in exchange rate and inflation which is critical for fostering certainty and predictability in business decision-making is attained.