Breaking news: US dollar to Bond official rate shoots up

In a shocking development that has left most people tongue tied,the official foreign exchange rate for the United States Dollar (USD) to the Zimbabwe Dollar has now moved to US$1: ZWL$63.74. This comes after the country held the second edition of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s forex auction system. The inaugural edition of the forex auction system was held last week and saw the official exchange rate move from ZWL$25 for every USD to ZWL$57.36 for every dollar.

The weighted average of ZWL$63.74 for every US dollar, will be the official exchange rate until the next auction next week Tuesday. US$16.32 million dollars was allocated to buyers with the highest bid coming in at ZWL$92 while the lowest bid came in at ZWL$37.82.Compared to last week, there was a huge improvement of 57 per cent in the total amount allocated.

Last week, US$10.34 million was traded on Tuesday. There was also an improvement in the lowest bid offered, with this week’s ZWL$37.82 comparing favourably against last week’s ZWL$25.5. However, there was a decrease in the highest bid which came at ZWL$92, 8 per cent lower than last week’s highest bid of ZWL$100.A total of $18,95 million bids was received and $16,32 million was successfully allotted. 86 per cent of the bids managed to get the foreign currency they needed.

Raw materials came through with the highest allotment at $7,2 million.This means that the government will also be increasing the fuel price tonight. Last week, the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) announced that the price of fuel will be adjusted on a weekly basis, as the authorities track the exchange rate. Price increases are also likely to follow.