Zimbabwe’s economy is not doing too well. President Emmerson Mnangagwa has promised to stabilize the economy, but not everyone is optimistic.
Inflation and prices are on the rise, there is a shortage of foreign currency and supplies of fuel, food and pharmaceuticals are drying up. The opposition is calling for a transitional government to resolve the worsening economic and political crisis hitting Zimbabwe.
On October 29, Mnangagwa met with the country's business community. Signs in Zimbabwe are pointing to a possible rerun of the massive crisis that engulfed the country about a decade ago. Among them is a sudden surge of the country's stock exchange's industrial index in October, which now stands at the relatively high market valuation of €19.3 billion, a sudden gain of more than 50 percent in a matter of days.
According to the market's spokesperson Tapiwa Bepe, the surge is a consequence of the country's profound crisis. "The political and economic environment is volatile. The heightened activity on the stock market was therefore investors scrambling to take positions in real assets by disposing of cash and bank balances." Foreign and national investors believe that stocks and shares offer more security. But it has become extremely difficult to take out money locked in electronic bank balances from the stock exchange.
The situation was acknowledged by President Mnangagwa: "The fear to lose wealth and savings as happened during the 2008 economic meltdown is current but unnecessary. I greatly appreciate and understand all your concerns and anxieties."
The 76-year-old leader said that Zimbabwe would continue using the multi-currency system which the country adopted in 2009 after abandoning its worthless currency. But according to dw.com, the hard currencies, mainly the US dollar and South African rand, making up the system together with government issued so called bond notes, have been hard to find lately on the formal market.
