Letwin Mubonesi
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has started injecting new $2 and $5 notes into the financial system to improve the level of cash in circulation and this is expected to make life easier for ordinary citizens including the elderly (the pensioners) who are spending long hours queuing for their poultry amounts from NSSA into their bank accounts.
It is hoped that the availability of cash in the system will eliminate the exorbitant fees ordinary citizens are paying when transacting through mobile money transfer especially via the giant EcoCash platform.
Since 2009 when the Zimbabwe dollar ceased to circulate after losing its value due to hyperinflation, the Central Bank has given the nation a merry-go-round experience between currencies including the imposition of the bond note which was shunned and resisted by citizens, with the feared experience of the popular bearer’s cheques that were a result of the world’s largest hyper inflation of 2008.
Meanwhile the citizens continue to lament the money they are loosing in trying to access cash to go on with their lives.
Mr Naboth Murime, who is into informal trading lamented the fees the ordinary citizens are being charged at the EcoCash agents that it is too much. He said, “It is no longer sustainable in this country, life has become difficult for us we are almost doing a 50/50 share of our money with the agents as they are charging us extreme rates in return of cash. They are robbing us of our hard-earned money because we need cash from them.”
While this injection maybe a relief for many, what needs to happen is a constant supply of the cash, banks must be able to provide cash to their clients and cash must be easily accessible.
What ordinary citizens are also concerned about however is the corrupt access to this cash by a few, the scandals that follow such injections, and the hope that inflation will not be fuelled by this new injection.
RBZ Governor, Dr Mangudya said recently they will gradually inject about $1 billion cash over the next six months, bringing cash in circulation to $1,9 billion or 10 percent of total deposits and by increasing the amount of cash in circulation through drip feeding the market with manageable dosages of cash, the Central Bank hopes to improve demand and production.
One economist said, “The onus is now on the RBZ’s Financial Intelligence Unit to ensure that notes are found in abundance in the banks instead of the streets. Any excess cash should be moped up using various instruments at the Bank’s discretion. The Financial Intelligence Unit should also consider introducing a system whereby banks are required to account for every penny allocated by the Central Bank through the KYC principle. Those found to be breaking the rules must be dealt with.”
The current informal use of the united states dollars when purchasing in various stores, the use of plastic money via banks and such platform as mobile money transfers and the injection of the latest bond notes is something that could ease the way of doing business, be a realistic journey to healing this economy, only if the state stops over-spending, careless expenditures, leakages in all government institutions and ends corruption amongst the leaders in our country.
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