By Mubanga Mubanga
Economist Yusuf Dodia says he is disappointed that the implementation of the Export Earnings Tracking Framework by the Bank of Zambia (BoZ), seems to have stalled.
Speaking in an interview with Daily Revelation, Dodia attributed the continued depreciation of the Kwacha against the US Dollar, to the lack of implementation of the Export Earnings Tracking Framework BoZ.
Dodia said if the Export Earnings Tracking Framework was implemented, the Kwacha by now could be trading below K20 against the dollar.
“Am quite disappointed because it appears that maybe the government has stalled in implementing the Export Tracking Framework for reasons unknown. But clearly, we have a situation where if it were implemented today, the exchange rate would have been below K20 to a dollar,” Dodia said.
“So we have to speculate that why is it not reached that stage, and the only reason that l can attribute to it is either
the Bank of Zambia for some reasons have stalled on implementing it … it has been withdrawn by the government and the public have not been informed. Which would be a big disappointment because this tracking framework promises to be a very powerful tool to unlock our economy.”
He said if the government had withdrawn the framework, it was unfortunate.
“So if the government has withdrawn it, then unfortunately we are going to see ourselves in a situation where the Kwacha gets weaker and weaker as we go towards the end of the year and this will not be good for Zambia,” he said.
Dodia also said due to the lack of the implementation of the Export Proceeds Tracking Framework, Zambia was at the mercy of large exporters.
“Now since the Export Tracking Framework is no longer seeming to be in place, we are now left to … to the whims of exporters on how much they decide they want to bring into our country. So we are at the mercy of the large exporters and that is the situation we have been suffering from for many years. So clearly the dictates of the value of the Kwacha are best based on what our large international companies are wanting to bring back to our economy. It is not a satisfactory position to be in for us you know. And therefore, my appeal is we must ensure that the Export Tracking Framework is fully implemented, otherwise the economy will not develop,” said Dodia.
