Zimbabwe's currency headed for devaluation: bankers

   HARARE, March 30 (AFP) - Zimbabwe's currency is likely to be devalued
within a month, banking sources said Thursday, but the central bank
insisted
that the government had not yet sanctioned the move.
   A banker, who requested anonymity, told AFP that at a meeting on Tuesday
it
was agreed by representatives of commercial banks and the country's central
Reserve Bank, that the Zimbabwe dollar was overvalued at 38 to the US
dollar.
   "There was general agreement that something should be done, and the
figure
of around 45 to one US dollar was bandied about," he said.
   Zimbabwe's Financial Gazette reported Thursday that the meeting had
decided
on a depreciation of 10 percent by the end of April and by a further two
percent each month for a period still to be decided upon.
   A spokesman for the Reserve Bank told AFP he could not confirm the
report,
adding: "Exchange rate policy is formulated by the government. Any changes
will be made by the government and we have not received any new
instructions."
   Analysts say, however, that a managed devaluation is almost certain
after
commercial banks had been pressured by the central bank to hold the
currency
at its current rate for more than a year despite a deepening economic
crisis.
   "A managed devaluation is overdue and essential," independent economist
John Robertson told AFP.
   "The levels of confidence in the country are far too low to open the
currency completely to market forces -- we would see a real crash."
   A dearth of foreign currency in Zimbabwe has seen fuel shortages in
recent
months which have caused huge queues at service stations and seriously
affected industry and commerce.
   One of the main pressures for a devaluation has come from tobacco
farmers,
who produce the country's largest single foreign currency earner.
   Tobacco auctions are due to open at the end of next month, and some
farmers
have threatened to withhold their crop unless there is a devaluation which
would boost their local income from sales made in US dollars.
   lb/dc

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