Bond note critics eat humble pie
ONE of the front runners of Tajamuka and a rabid critic of Government policies, Advocate Fadzayi Mahere, has all but admitted that bond notes rolled out by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe last year have been accepted by most Zimbabweans.
Tajamuka and other civic organisations of the same ilk made spirited attempts to discredit the currency before its introduction.
Contrary to their expectations, bond notes were embraced by people and they have largely addressed the problem of cash shortages.
The bond notes are pegged at 1:1 to the US dollar.
Posting on her Twitter account yesterday, Advocate Mahere said: “Sadly, Zimbabweans will say bond notes are working meanwhile the real money was stolen. Chimboitai tione. Ini ziii.”
RBZ Governor Dr John Mangudya was yesterday quoted by our sister paper, The Sunday Mail, confirming that bonds notes and the use of plastic money had eased cash shortages.
Dr Mangudya said there was enough cash on the market and urged members of the public to withdraw cash on a gradual basis, saying their money was safe in the banking system. He said panic withdrawals put unnecessary pressure on banks.
“Our banking sector is sound, there is no need to panic and put unnecessary pressure on the banks. We must give our banks some space,” said Dr Mangudya.
“We are encouraging people to use plastic money and mobile banking. This is very critical because it reduces pressure on the hard cash. The purpose of money is to transact and by using your card or electronic banking system, it achieves the same purpose,” he said.
“As we speak, we have invested a significant amount of money in improving our infrastructure. We have released more than 30 000 Point of Sale machines, which is significant from the 9 000 we had by mid last year,” he said.
He said plastic money transactions at established retailers had gone up to between 60 to 70 percent.
Dr Mangudya said the RBZ was aware of retailers who were painting a bad picture of the country’s POS infrastructure.
“Our electronic banking infrastructure is intact but just like any other electronic gadget, sometimes the system breaks down. It’s not more about the card but service providers might have problems, it’s normal just like any other system,” he said.
“Perfection is very difficult to attain but when the system is working 90 to 95 percent, I think it will be very good.
“The banks are working very hard to improve, this is work in progress,” he said.
Dr Mangudya said the RBZ was working with other Government departments to promote the use of plastic money and mobile banking.
Since early last year, Zimbabwe has been facing critical shortages of the US dollar owing to a number of factors that include high imports versus low imports, low foreign direct investment, externalisation and hoarding of the greenback.