Zimbabwe bankers to meet authorities after order to halt lending

BANKS in Zimbabwe will meet with authorities on Monday to get clarity on a weekend order given by President Emmerson Mnangagwa that they must halt lending that he blamed for fueling a currency crisis.

Mnangagwa imposed capital controls and ordered banks to suspend lending to government and the private sector with immediate effect, in a televised address on Saturday. It’s not clear if the order also applies to individuals.

The directive is meant to minimize the creation of money “that is prone to abuse for purposes of manipulating the exchange rate for financial gains,” the president said in the speech, adding that banks’ loans will be investigated.

Fanuel Mutoko, the chief executive officer of the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe, confirmed the meeting with the Reserve Bank. “It is difficult to say what the impact of the order will be given the statement came out on the weekend,” he said by