Central bank chief John Mangudya says Harare is engaging the business community with the view of finding ways to enhance the use of the Chinese yuan.
Mangudya dismissed media reports that this was linked to the debt forgiveness China has promised Harare.
He said the yuan was introduced a long time ago as part of a basket of currencies that Harare uses.
“The yuan is among currencies that are in the basket of currencies and there are nine currencies that are in that basket like the US dollar, the pound, the rand, the Euro, the yuan … so, we are saying how do we improve trade between the two countries. We are saying how can we improve the use of the yuan among the other currencies.”
He said Zimbabweans are getting it wrong in terms of viewing the Chinese yuan. “The yuan was put in the basket of multiple currencies in 2014 by the then acting governor. There is plenty of trading between Zimbabwe and China and so all we are saying is how we can fully explore ways of enhancing trade between the two countries, that is, bilateral trade.”
Zimbabwe is negotiating with China for the cancellation of part of its one billion dollar debt.
According to Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa, the Asian nation has indicated that it may right off at least $40 million of that debt.
