Midweek Reporter
HARARE- The country has earned US$8.3 billion in foreign currency inflow from January 2026 to 31 May 2026, representing a 39.1% increase compared to US$6 billion in the same period in 2025.
In a press statement released by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said the increased foreign currency inflows is attributable to domestic economy’s resilience to global supply chain logistic disruptions.
“The robust growth momentum has supported increased foreign currency inflows, amounting to US$8.3 billion as at 31 May 2026, compared to US$6 billion in the same period in 2025, representing a 39.1% increase,” read part of the statement.
The MPC noted that a total foreign payments of US$5.9 billion was made with the net surplus inflows adding foreign currency deposits in the banking sector and in circulation.
“The elevated foreign currency inflows compared favourably with total foreign payments of US$5.9 billion realised during the same period. Accordingly, the net surplus inflows culminated into increased foreign currency deposits in the banking sector and foreign currency in circulation, which supported domestic transactions and exchange rate stability,” further reads the statement.
Constant foreign currency inflows hedged the foreign currency reserves backing ZiG to over US$1.5 billion as at May 2026, equal to one and a half months of import cover according to MPC.
“The sustained increase in foreign currency inflows supported the accumulation of foreign currency reserves backing ZiG to over US$1.5 billion as at May 2026, equivalent to 1.5 months of import cover,” the MPC said.
On annual inflation, the MPC said it is below 5% despite the recent impact of the oil price shock.
“As such, month-on-month inflation increased temporarily, from 0.5% in March 2026 to 1.1% in April 2026, before reverting to its pre-shock trend of 0.5% in May 2026. Annual inflation was, therefore, sustained below 5%, and stood at 4.8% in April and 4.4% in May 2026, indicating the partial pass-through of the oil price shock to domestic prices.”
