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THE year 2025 will see the Chinese economy overtake the US economy, though the average Chinese will still be four times poorer than the average American.
The Chinese economy, however, will continue to power along as Latin America and Africa also continue to enlarge their share of Chinese imports and exports.
There is no doubt that, should China navigate its political landscape well, the yuan is the currency of the future. And more importantly Chinese banks might be willing to extend loans in this currency.
Perhaps this is what Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono means by suggesting that the prevailing multi-currency system be restructured by replacing the United States dollar with the Chinese yuan.
He might feel that with sufficient praise singing, the Chinese might settle our crippling US$7 billion debt to the West in exchange for a yuan-denominated one and other concessions on the raw material front.
From a Zanu PF perspective, it may be a way out of our inability to raise funds elsewhere. It has some merit; if only we were credible borrowers even in the eyes of the Chinese.
Eric Bloch’s article “No tothe Chinese yuan” (Zimbabwe Independent, December 9) against the yuan is more driven by emotion than by trends, over the last few decades, on the ground.
At the end of the day gold reserves in our own central bank are the fail-safe way of guarding the national savings for a rainy day. The rest of the currencies, as both Gono and Bloch agree, are just a casino.
The Spectator,
Harare.
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This issue is a complex one but if anyhthing the productivity of the host country, its financial/fiscal(not faecal) policy and its sacrosanct bent towards foreign investment hold the key. Of course you need a leadership that has a clear vision regarding where it is headed or coming from for that matter.
The chinese giant deng xiaping and his team that auth**ed the reform program in the early eaighties had a clear vision where they wanted to take the giant "no m*re communist state". Today in 30 short years with a billion mouths to feed the chinese dragon is now straddling the pacific with both the world number one and 'old number two' watching in awe. Interesting the new president of china and his team have executed Xiaping's vision with an ardent fervour that is remarkable.
Now explain how it is that for a team that has brought this prosperity to China and the resultant respect and admiration of everyone around is it not amazing that the Chinese president is leaving to get a well earned rest? Amazing, what man can achieve if he sets his mind to it..Whatever relationship we may have had with the chinese in the past we should not pretend to ourselves that we are coping their model! Ours has a name still to be found somewhere into the future!
the issue is not what currency we use but what policies we employ to lift our economy..we have a distinct advantage in that we have a small diverse compact economy. All it needs is a manager.