TOBACCO farmers say they are losing out on their earnings due to the disparity between official foreign currency exchange rate and parallel market rate.
The farmers surrender 40 percent of their foreign currency earnings to the Reserve Bank at the auction rate currently hovering around US$1 to $84. On the parallel market the greenback is however going for around $120.
The auction system, which has been credited with stabilising prices and taming inflation since mid-last year, is used by the government to determine the country’s official market exchange rate.
Tobacco Farmers Union of Zimbabwe president Believe Tevera told The Financial Gazette, that the ongoing marketing of the crop itself was satisfactory for the farmers but the exchange rate was making it difficult for them to prepare for next
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