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Bloomberg
Zimbabwe has reached flexible payment arrangements with some gasoline importers that will ensure it stabilises supplies amid a forei- gn-currency shortage that threatens economic growth.
The government has struck a deal with a unit of Trafigura Beheer BV and Independent Petroleum Group (IPG) of Kuwait Ltd to extend payment periods for gasoline supplies to as many as six months from 30 days, Energy Minister Joram Gum-bo said. This enables the government to prioritise allocation of scarce US dollars to strategic areas, he said.
“We expect situation to stabilise, but it can’t be overnight,†he said by phone from Johannesburg. A myriad of economic challenges characterised by shortages of foreign currency, wheat and hospital drugs threatens to derail President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s plans to reverse the southern African nation’s two-decade economic crisis triggered by his long-time ally and predecessor, Robert Mugabe. A crippling shortage for dollars, which the nation adopted as its main official currency in 2009, is forcing motorists to queue for hours at filling stations for the commodity.
Zimbabwe requires about $100 million monthly for petroleum imports and importers have to rely on the central bank for allocations of foreign currency to bring in the commodity. A unit of Fra-nce’s Total is constantly asking the central bank for hard currency to bring in more supplies, said Ronan Besc-ond, its managing director.