Zimbabwe: Tobacco Selling Season Under Review

Source from:  The Herald (Harare) April 10, 2006 04/11/2006

THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) wants the tobacco selling season to start earlier than previously planned, acting governor Dr Charity Dhliwayo said last week. Initially, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) had set April 25 as the commencement date. But the central bank is pushing for the season to start earlier, ostensibly to allow quick deliveries of the golden leaf. "We call upon the TIMB to now play their part and hasten the commencement of the 2006 selling season much earlier than the planned 25th April 2006," said Dr Dhliwayo. "Through close collaborative efforts among all stakeholders, we will together register success in the stabilisation in our macro-economic environment." A senior official with the TIMB confirmed that they had received the request from the central bank and it was under consideration. "We are looking into that," said the official whose name cannot be published, "but as you can see, we are not very far from the initial date. We need only three weeks and that will give us time to iron out a few things." The central bank has put in place incentives to encourage early delivery of tobacco. An early d elivery bonus of $40 000 per kilogramme will be paid to farmers who deliver their crop before July 31, over and above the floor price. The Reserve Bank also raised tobacco support price 36-fold to $180 000 from $5 000. This is equivalent to almost US$2 per kg and the ruling interbank rate of $99 200 against the greenback. Tobacco has been the major foreign currency earner for the past years but has witnessed a decline in production over the last few years. Enditem