Dissecting The FX Auction System Series: How Central Bank Evolved Into A “2021 Zimbo Robin Hood

Action now needs to be taken against companies that are abusing Zimbabwe's foreign Exchange Auction system By Ngoni Chihombori On the 9th of July, 2021, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe issued a press statement titled “Update on action taken against certain entities for the abuse of the foreign exchange auction system, exchange rate manipulation and flouting of exchange control rules and regulations.” The purpose of this particular press statement was to serve as a follow-up update to the general public on the punitive action that had been taken on the 18 trouble-stirring entities that had appeared on an earlier published list of notorious entities released by the financial services regulator. These supposed delinquents had been red-flagged by the Central Bank for deviating from the stipulated terms and conditions regarding the usage of scarce forex accessed via the official forex interbank auction market and ultimately throwing spanners in the works, preventing the “would-have-been” smooth sailing forex auction market. According to the update, a further 21 firms had been added under investigation for partaking in the same monkey business. Out of the final list of 39 offenders, some of the culprits had been fined various undisclosed amounts, with their “access cards’ to