Zimbabwe to order importers to declare forex sourcing

Zimbabwe will force importers to declare sources of foreign currency and those who fail to prove they obtained the money from banks will forfeit their goods to the state, a government official said on Friday. Deputy finance minister Clemence Chiduwa said the directive was meant to tame the black market for dollars.

Shortages of foreign currency, fuel and electricity are characterising Zimbabwe's worst economic crisis in a decade and have dashed hopes the economy might recover under President Emmerson Mnangagwa who took over from Robert Mugabe in 2017.

Chiduwa told reporters that demand for foreign exchange was still high even after the government ended a decade of dollarisation in June in a major step towards fully restoring its domestic currency.

He added that the practice by local businesses of indexing prices to the US dollar was driving up inflation, which economists say reached 440% in October. "In the event that you are not able to declare the official source of foreign currency, you forfeit whatever you have to the state. So this will deal with black market operations," said Chiduwa. Foreign currency shortages have also been worsened by Zimbabwe's failure to attract foreign investment and loans.