Bring the bond notes: Industry

The CZI head and chief executive officer of United Refineries Limited said the coming in of bond notes would see industry being able to price their products in smaller demoninations like 85c, for instance, with customers walking away with 15c change.

He said the country was currently stuck with the old United States dollars, which he said were being rejected in other countries.

Mr Moyo said he visited South Africa and was disappointed when the US dollars he had were rejected for being dirty.

“We are using dirty old notes, which are not accepted anywhere. The ones we use here are dirty and we have an opportunity of using the bonds coins and notes in the country, with which we can pay toll fees and buy tomatoes,” he said.

Mr Moyo said the bond notes would not be forced on people, as government said, adding that anyone who is not willing to use them was free not to.

“We take comfort in the promise by the Government that there would be a board to run the bond notes. The notes are not compulsory. One can chose to refuse them. For business we should be okay and we welcome the use of the bond notes as long as they are accepted by the people,” he said.

The bond note facility is backed by a $200 million loan secured from Afreximbank. The Government has adopted the approach as part of measures to incentivise production in the economy through a five percent export incentives facility payable in bond notes.

This means the level of circulation of bond notes will be tied to exports. The move is also part of a broad strategy to curb capital flight and externalisation, which has dogged Zimbabwe’s foreign currency reserves since dollarisation in 2009. — @pchitumba1