News, Rumors and Opinions Friday Afternoon 3-13-2020
TNT:
Tishwash: Zimbabwe to switch to managed float exchange rate in latest move
Zimbabwe will adopt a “managed float” exchange rate regime, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said on Wednesday, abandoning strict control of foreign exchange by the central bank in the latest in a series of currency reforms that have so far failed.
The country, which has seen bouts of hyperinflation since 2008, has taken steps to ease its heavy reliance on the U.S. dollar, part of a raft of economic reforms by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who replaced longtime leader Robert Mugabe after an army coup in 2017.
Last June it made its interim currency the country’s sole legal tender, ending a decade of dollarisation and taking a another step towards relaunching the Zimbabwean dollar.
The central bank has controlled the interbank forex trading market, which was introduced in February 2019.
The latest move will see banks take a bigger role in foreign currency trades, narrowing the gap with the unofficial market by allowing trade on a more transparent platform.
On Wednesday, the Zimabwe dollar was trading at 18.26 against the U.S. dollar on the official interbank market and at around 40 to the greenback on the black market.
“Zimbabwe has had no transparent and effective foreign exchange trading platform for a long time. Consequently, official rates have not been effectively determined, while a thriving parallel market has developed,” Finance Minister Ncube told reporters in Harare.
He said an electronic forex trading platform was being put in place immediately.
“This platform will allow foreign exchange to be traded freely among banks and permit a true market exchange rate to be determined.”
Economic analyst Batanai Matsika of securities firm Morgan & Co described the policy shift as a desperate measure.
“This demonstrates the desperation of the authorities to deal with the widening gap between the official and parallel market exchange rates,” Matsika said.
“But it does not address the fundamental issue, which is the supply of forex. In a managed float, you need reserves to intervene in the market. The government does not have that. We do not even have three months’ import cover.”
Economic commentator Brains Muchemwa said the latest policy might not succeed in stabilising the exchange rate if the government did not maintain fiscal discipline.
Ncube insisted that the government had managed to control its spending and had a fiscal surplus of 3.1 billion Zimbabwean dollars ($172 million) at the end of February.
Last month the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that delays by Zimbabwe in implementing foreign exchange and monetary reforms risked undermining the new currency and the government’s reengagement internationally on debt arrears.
On Wednesday, Ncube also announced a new taskforce, which he will chair, to implement policy reforms aimed at stabilising the exchange rate and curbing inflation, which reached 521% at the end of 2019, according to the IMF. Reuters link
Courtesy of Dinar Guru:
Pimpy Is this right? Is there an article out there saying that we finally have Iraq heading towards a floating rate? This can't be? When I found out about this I almost lost my poop... Article: "Former Minister: Iraqi Dinar On The Way To "Float". ...we want the Iraqi dinar to float. Yes we do! This article says for the purpose of reducing its value. That's not the case. Quote: "The former minister, Jabbar, confirmed today, Wednesday, that the Iraqi dinar is on the way too floating..." ...this is good news believe it or not. I'm not talking about how the dinar is gonna lower in rate...
Pimpy ...right now the dinar is pegged. That's a fixed exchange rate against the U.S. dollar...if it floats then what determines its value is gonna be based on supply and demand and market...this is good. As Iraq gets their crap together and the better they do the more valuable the currency becomes...we want this. We've been saying this for a long time. We need them to unpeg from the U.S. dollar which is a fixed exchange rate. Which is manipulated by the government and we want them to go into a floating exchange rate...just like that it can jump up in value...if we get this you'd be surprised what will happen to the dinar once the government is established. Once they're stable and there's no more protesting the dinar would just keep going up and up...[Post 2 of 2]
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KTFA:
Samson: Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are taking measures to deal with banknotes
13th March, 2020
The two central banks in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia announced that they have taken measures to combat the spread of the Corona virus, including isolating and sterilizing banknotes.
The Central Bank of Kuwait said through its page on “Twitter” that it has taken preventive measures for the safety of banknotes users since the beginning of the appearance of Corona, and indicated that the safe of the safe, counting and sorting equipment and receiving and delivery areas is continuously sterilized.
In addition, the incoming banknotes are isolated to the central bank for at least 4 weeks to ensure that they are free of viruses, and after the period has passed they are pumped again. As for the Saudi Monetary Agency, it said that it is isolating all Saudi currencies received for its branches from outside the Kingdom through banks and money transfer companies, as a precautionary and precautionary measure, according to the newspaper previously published.
The Foundation called for adopting personal hygiene measures in dealing with all elements of all kinds, and confirmed that it is following up and coordinating with the competent authorities to take all preventive and precautionary measures to deal with the currency or other means of payment. According to the latest data, the number of infected people with the deadly virus in Kuwait reached 80, while in the Kingdom the number of infected people reached 62 cases. LINK
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Samson: The death of a commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards with Corona virus
03/13/2020 17:12:20
Iranian media reported the death of the leader of the Revolutionary Guards, Brigadier Nasser Shaabani, after he was infected with the Corona virus.
The semi-official "Fars" agency confirmed Chaabani's death, describing him as a former leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and involved in the Iraq-Iran war.
She added that he previously held the position of deputy commander of the vendor's vendetta headquarters in the capital, Tehran, for practical affairs. LINK
ALERT! SILVER Crashes on COMEX Derivative Meltdown!! (Bix Weir)
RoadToRoota: Mar 13, 2020
BILLIONS of OUNCES in electronic silver sales have been dumped on the COMEX in the past few days. 100% controlled and executed by the US Treasury, US Fed, CFTC, Bullion Banks and the Trump Administration.