Source: RBZ struggles with forex for drug imports – DailyNews Live 23 January 2017
Bridget Mananavire
HARARE – The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) can only remit $2 million a
month to medicine importers, amid revelations that the pharmaceutical
companies are struggling with payments to foreign suppliers.
This has resulted in shortages of critical drugs required in the
day-to-day running of hospitals and clinics, with pharmaceutical companies
warning of an all-time low stock of critical medicines, amid an intense
battle to source foreign currency to import the drugs.
RBZ governor John Mangudya told the Daily News this weekend that foreign
currency was in short supply.
“As the Reserve Bank, we only get between 25 to 30 percent of the foreign
currency, and 70 to 75 percent is in the market. Part of that 30 percent
goes to productive imports, fuel, medicines, raw materials and others. The
demand for that 30 percent is high,” he said.
“Weekly, we give between $400 000 and $500 000 to the importation of
medicine. We are not really sure what the demand is but we would be
expecting this to be topped by the market,” Mandudya said.
“Medicines are on the priority list and we provide foreign currency on a
weekly basis. The phenomenon is caused by the fact that the demand for
foreign exchange is higher than its supply. There is also a great need to
ensure that we improve on the efficiency on the distribution of the scarce
foreign exchange resources.
“That is why we are working on the resuscitation of CAPS – the largest
pharmaceutical manufacturing company in Zimbabwe – so that we will not
have to use more money importing the medicines.”
With government failing to adequately supply hospitals with medicines,
institutions are now flocking to private suppliers.
Health minister, David Parirenyatwa, said his ministry was in continuous
talks with Mangudya to see how the foreign exchange situation could be
resolved.
“We are in negotiations with Mangudya so that they prioritise
pharmaceutical drugs.
“They have prioritised other things but prioritisation of pharmaceutical
drugs can also be done so that not only does it help supply our own
people, but it helps local industry to get raw materials to manufacture
for the country, that is how it’s going to be solved ,” Parirenyatwa said
in an interview.
Last week, the country only had two week’s supply of atracurium, a major
anaesthetic drug used in addition to other drugs for muscle relaxation
during surgery. The short supply had resulted after the relocation of drug
supplier GSK which pulled out of the Zimbabwean market last year.
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