By A Correspondent -The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) said it has no idea of how tobacco farmers would be paid for the 2021 tobacco marketing season which begins next month.

TIMB said they will only establish the payment modalities for tobacco farmer after the announcement of this year’s monetary policy statement.

According to the state media, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor Dr John Mangudya is expected to present this year’s monetary policy statement any time from this week going forward.

TIMB chief executive officer Dr Andrew Matibiri, told the state media, Wednesday that nothing regarding the payment modalities for this year’s tobacco crop has been made.

“We are still waiting for the Reserve Bank to decide, at the moment we don’t know. I think maybe in about a week we would be knowing,” he said.
“I think we are waiting for the monetary policy statement first, but its (monetary policy statement) due sometime this week,” he said.

Last year, tobacco farmers were paid half their earnings through their Zimbabwe dollar accounts with the remaining half being deposited into their Foreign Currency Accounts.

However, most farmers faced difficulties in accessing their hard currency due to failure to appreciate the processes involved.

-Chronicle