Economist and banker Dr Nigel Chanakira has implored President Emmerson Mnangagwa's administration to urgently extend the US$ usage policy beyond 2030 in order to attract meaningful infrastructure investments.
Last year Mnangagwa issued Statutory Instrument S.I 218 of 2023 which was hailed by the industry for going a long way towards providing multi-currency usage clarity for a period running up to 2030.
Recently, authorities indicated the desire to go full-blown monocurrency once the fundamentals are met.
But speaking to NewZimbabwe.com, Wednesday on the sidelines of the ZIMREAL Property Investment Forum, Chanakira implored the government to timeously take the right steps.
"Zimbabwe has been a beneficiary of the US$ currency. To begin with, we shouldn't be where we are. Normally we want a strong domestic currency. But whatever happened, happened. We can't run away from reality.
"Now that such has happened, we have ended up with the hard currency as the main currency we are using and the one which a lot of people have confidence in. ZiG has been introduced and it's still gaining momentum but the confidence isn't out rightly there.
"As long as we still have doubting Thomases and you will always have them, guess what? We need to extend the US$ usage tenure. Why? Because we have a deficit of infrastructure funding including housing, water and electricity," he said.
The top banker argued that there is no way Zimbabwe can internally fund this deficit hence the need to stick to the US$.
"In economics, we talk about medium to long-term funding. In banking terms normally that is a preserve of Building Societies, Insurance Companies particularly life companies and pension funds to fund that infrastructure.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
"As long as they are funding with US$, then there is the limited life of the foreign currency. Investors will always consider their liabilities," Chanakira said.
He urged authorities to consider extending the tenure of any medium to long-term funding to attract the right infrastructure underscoring that on the African continent, Zimbabwe is one of the countries which allows multiple currencies to trade on its stocks.
Chanakira added, "So there is a need to take advantage of this. Don't condemn it, in business we say give the customer what they want. You don't try and fight the market. Right now the tenure of the US$ usage is set to end in six years. So what are we saying?
"We are therefore limiting the amount of investment from going into what is badly needed and that is infrastructure. I hope the argument is simple, elegant and progressive."
