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Michael Makuza, Business Reporter

THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has allotted US$19,1 million to businesses at the Foreign Currency Auction System this week compared to last week’s US$18,2 while the local currency lost further ground against the United States dollar.

This week the Zimbabwe dollar is trading at US$1: ZWL$831 from last week’s US$1: ZWL$801.

In its latest update after Tuesday’s auction, the RBZ said a total of US$16,8 million was allotted for the main auction and US$2,2 million for the Small to Medium Enterprises, making a total of US$19,1 million.

The main auction approved bids worth US$20,2 million while the SMEs platform got US$2,7 million.

This week’s auction results saw the bulk of the allotment going to the procurement of raw materials followed by machinery and equipment.

A total of US$9,2 million went towards the procurement of raw materials while US$1,9 million was channeled towards procurement of machinery and equipment in the main auction.

In the SME category, US$706,607 went towards raw materials while US$698,196 was for machinery and equipment procurement.