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BY TAURAI MANGUDHLA FORMER legislator and Monetary Policy Committee member Eddie Cross has made sensational claims that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) was printing $1 billion weekly mainly to buy gold. At the official rate of around 82, this translates to about US$12,2 million weekly and about US$635 million annually. This brought into sharp focus the central bank’s transparency and accountability at a time the government claimed to have stopped its printing press which dragged the country into an unprecedented hyperinflationary environment around 2008. “We have shown that at the RBZ research there is a direct correlation between money supply and the exchange rate and I think that until we stop printing money for various reasons …we print money mainly to buy gold, we print a billion (Zimbabwean dollars) a week,” Cross said in his presentation during an online Big Debate Series, Zimbabwe 2021 Economic Prospects, hosted by Alpha Media Holdings. NewsDay made an attempt to seek further clarification from Cross who said not the entire $1 billion was printed as part of it could be existing resources although he had no information on the standard operating procedure. In 2020, Cross said the RBZ required about $45 billion on top of US$800 million to buy gold. Cross, however, defended the move, saying it didn’t really cause inflation as the money was used to buy an asset easily converted to hard currency as opposed to financing debt. Central bank chief John Mangudya dismissed Cross’ claims. “What I think he meant was that we purchase forex from the market in an amount of $1 billion per week for sale to the auction system,” Mangudya said. “So its net effect is zero on the increase in money supply.” During the debate, other panellists took turns to criticise Finance minister Mthuli Ncube's 7,4% gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for 2021 as well as inflation performance which was largely described as ambitious in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Economist and Africa Round Table Forum chief executive Kipson Gundani said despite positive prospects in mining and agricultural sectors, a serious downside exists on the consumption side because of the COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdowns. “Most entities that rely on domestic driven consumption will suffer a huge knock in 2021,” he said, adding that the economy would grow by 3% at most. He said the 135% annual inflation average could be achieved on the back of depressed local demand due to dwindling disposable incomes. “I think COVID-19 will become a very huge determinant when it comes to GDP and inflationary development,” Gundani said, warning that a managed exchange rate would lead to some point of explosion. Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe chief executive Gloria Zaravanhu said achieving economic growth above 3% would be a tall order due to depressed demand and limited budgetary support as well as water and power shortages. Zaravanhu said tax revenues would be affected by a growing cash economy that was largely dealing in foreign currency and evading tax
The president also stressed the importance of keeping the economy open after months of stifling movement restrictions.
He urged citizens not to drop their guard and continue adhering to the health rules, such as wearing face masks and respecting curfew times.
South Africa has recorded just over 800,000 coronavirus infections - more than a third of the cases reported across the African continent - and over 20,000 deaths.
AFP
California has banned the diversity policy at its public institutions for the last 24 years, but voters could change that next week.
Dr. Miami Is Offering Bigger Jimmys For $600 Stimmys, Twitter Says Say Less
Coronavirus first spread in the United States as a mostly coastal and big-city scourge, sparing many rural areas, small towns and even small cities. Translated into U.S. political geography: The virus hit Democratic areas first. No more. An Associated Press analysis of coronavirus case data shows the virus has moved — and is spreading quickly — into Republican areas, a []
The High Court has dismissed Attorney-General Paul Kariuki Kihara's application to stop the implementation of an order requiring Interior CS Fred Matiang'i to review curfew orders and include lawyers and Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa) officials among essential service providers.
The judge said the reason the court issued the directive compelling the CS to amend the curfew orders was premised on findings that police used unreasonable force in enforcing it.
He added that the April 16 order was meant to enable lawyers to reach out to clients in need of legal services during curfew hours, saying Ipoa could check on police excesses.
The government had argued that listing Ipoa officials and Law Society of Kenya (LSK) members as essential personnel would likely lead to a rise in coronavirus infections.
\"The impression one gets from the applicant is that the few LSK members and Ipoa officers who ... operate during the curfew hours will be so suicidal that they will seek out the little blobs of liquid released as someone coughs, sneezes or talks so as to breathe in viruses.\"
Ivory Coast's government on Tuesday accused the opposition of \"plotting\" against the state after it vowed to set up a rival government following bruising presidential elections won in a landslide by the incumbent, Alassane Ouattara.
The standoff pitched the West African nation deeper into a three-month-old crisis that has claimed several dozen lives, triggering EU appeals for calm and dialogue.
Hours after 78-year-old Ouattara was declared victor with more than 94 percent of the vote, Justice Minister Sansan Kambile accused the opposition of \"acts of assault and plotting against the authority of the state.\"
The Abidjan public prosecutor has been asked to investigate, Kambile said, warning that \"all options are on the table.\"
Opposition leader Pascal Affi N'Guessan had told reporters late Monday that opposition parties and groups were forming a \"council of national transition.\"
\"This council's mission will be to... create a transitional government within the next few hours,\" N'Guessan said.
The goal, he said, was to \"prepare the framework for a fair, transparent and inclusive presidential election.\"
Ouattara's landslide in Saturday's vote had been widely expected -- two opposition leaders had called for a boycott of the ballot and a civil disobedience campaign.
But the protests and bloody clashes have also stirred traumatic memories of a crisis a decade ago that tore the country apart and dealt it lasting economic damage.
Around 3,000 people died after then-president Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept defeat by Ouattara.
N'Guessan late Monday said the \"transitional council\" would be led by opposition veteran Henri Konan Bedie, 86, a former president and long-term adversary of Ouattara.
\"Keeping Mr Ouattara as head of state could lead to civil war,\" he warned.
- Confrontation -
In Abidjan, the economic capital, security forces blocked off roads close to Bedie's villa.
They fired teargas to disperse small groups of supporters and journalists outside, preventing the staging of a press conference called to follow up Monday night's announcement.
In Daoukro, an opposition stronghold 235 kilometres (146 miles) north of Abidjan, anti-Ouattara protesters were manning barricades.
\"These results are a farce, \" said one, who gave his name as Firmin. \"We are going to carry on with civil disobedience until Ouattara steps down.\"
In contrast, Ouattara supporters sang his praises, saying he had strived to end instability in the world's top cocoa producer and revive its battered economy.
\"He has worked hard for the country. He has to carry on, not just for us, but for our children,\" said Hamed Dioma, a scrap-metal worker in a rundown district of Abidjan.
\"We are going to party.\"
Anger sparked by Ouattara's quest for a third term has revived memories of past feuds left mostly unreconciled after a 2002 civil war split the country in two.
Thirty people died in clashes before Saturday's vote, often between local ethnic groups allied to the opposition and Dioula communities seen as close to Oua
COVID-19 cases are rising as the third wave of the coronavirus surges across the nation. On Tuesday alone, 60,598 new... View Article
The post US reports over 60,590 COVID-19 cases in 1 day, 929 new deaths appeared first on TheGrio.
Zimbabwe's government on Saturday defended the arrests of an investigative journalist and an opposition leader this week, claiming the pair had been plotting to "overthrow the government" with the backing of the United States and other "foreign power
A survey by the National Employment Law Project (NELP) about working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic confirms that corporate America has treated Black workers categorically worse than White workers during the pandemic.
The survey found that Black workers were roughly twice as likely to have been retaliated against by their employers for speaking up about health concerns and requesting time off work.
Three out of four Black workers who took the survey said they showed up to work during the pandemic even though they believed they might have been seriously risking their health or the health of family members.
“Our results suggest that virus transmission in the workplace may be exacerbated by employer repression and that the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black communities may be related to greater exposure of Black workers to repressive workplace environments,” the study’s authors wrote.
“While Black workers at any given worksite tend to be treated worse than their white counterparts, the study’s authors suggest that Black workers, as a whole, tend to work in more repressive environments than White workers,” noted vice.com.
Hundreds of Masvingo residents Thursday ignored the government's lockdown restrictions to give prominent bus operator Tanda 'Mhunga' Tavaruva a fitting send-off at a local cemetery.
Mdara Mhunga, as the businessman was affectionately known, died aged 84 at his plush Rhodene home in Masvingo Monday afternoon after a long illness.
Tavaruva was famed for running a successful transport empire with his Mhunga branded buses plying many major routes in the country during its peak.
In football circles, the Masvingo community is ever indebted by the late businessman's contributions towards the establishment of a viable community team, Masvingo United which went on to compete favourably in the country's premier league.
Mourners fondly told stories of the late businessman extending a helping hand to the Masvingo community, from the elite to the most vulnerable.
by Kathleen Ronayne and Will Weissert - WILMINGTON, Del. — Joe Biden named California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate on Tuesday, making history by selecting the first Black woman to compete on a major party’s presidential ticket and acknowledging the vital role Black voters will play in his bid to defeat President Donald […]
“Sorry, it’s hard to find a quiet place to listen,” said my student, 'Tanya,” this spring as she struggled to... View Article
The post Schools dazed : HBCUs struggle to re-open amid coronavirus appeared first on TheGrio.
Some $150 million is needed to tackle the refugee crisis in Sudan, the UN Refugee Agency boss said Saturday. Tens of thousands of Ethiopians have fled from the embattled northern Tigray region to seek refuge in Sudan.
Filipo Grandi, who said this during a visit to the camp, appealed for donor support.
''Five hundred people per day, this is what we got in the last few days. Five, six hundred refugees coming into the country per day. In rich countries, this would be bring governments down. In here, the government of Sudan has kept the border open. UNHCR, the UN and humanitarian community need about 150 million dollars for the next six months to help the government of Sudan manage this refugee crisis\", he said.
The Tigray conflict broke out on November 4 between Ethiopia's federal forces and leaders of the region's ruling party.
Sudan has since become a refugee for over 43,000 Ethiopian refugees fleeing from the intense fighting.
The East African nation is accommodating the mass refugee influx as it struggles with its own economic crisis. The country is also going through a fragile transition since the April 2019 ouster of long serving leader Omar al-Bashir, after unprecedented mass protests, triggered by economic hardship.
By BERNARD McGHEE Associated Press In a year defined by a devastating pandemic, the world lost iconic defenders of civil rights, great athletes and entertainers who helped define their genres. Many of their names hold a prominent place in the collective consciousness — RBG, Kobe, Maradona, Eddie Van Halen, Little Richard, Sean Connery, Alex Trebek, Christo — but pandemic restrictions often limited the public's ability to mourn their loss in a year that saw more than a million people die from the coronavirus. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — known as the Notorious RBG to her many admirers […]
The post Final goodbye: Recalling influential people who died in 2020 appeared first on Black News Channel.
