SPECIMENS for new notes and coins to be introduced later
this month will start being circulated as from tomorrow to give members of the
public enough time to familiarise themselves with the money.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr John Mangudya last
Tuesday announced that he will be issuing new $5 notes and $2 coins, to cushion
citizens who are being fleeced of their hard-earned money by unscrupulous
retailers who charge premiums on other forms of payment other than cash. In an
interview on Friday, Dr Mangudya said the specimens will be out soon after the
gazetting of the Statutory Instrument by Government which will give the green
light to the introduction of the new notes and coins.
“We will start having them (specimens) on Monday,” he said.
A Statutory Instrument 231 of 2019 has since been issued by
the Government paving way for the introduction of the new notes and coins. The
SI details the designs of the news notes. “The design of the two dollar and
five-dollar banknotes shall be as follows,
a) On the front side of both the two and the five dollar
note, the dominant feature shall be the logo of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(three balancing rocks) with the visually impaired recognition feature to the
left, latent image showing the denomination, optical variable ink with colour
shift from gold to green, security thread with the inscriptions “RBZ” and see
through of the Zimbabwe Bird looking to the left in the perfect register, as
secondary features.
b) In respect of the two dollar note, on the backside there
shall be an impression of the Parliament of Zimbabwe Building and the Eternal
Flame. c) In respect of the five dollar note, on the back side shall be an
impression of the three giraffes and three trees.”
Dr Mangudya added the new coins and notes will address the
cash problem. “As we have said many times there is shortage of cash here and
people are selling cash through these agents. This is not debatable; I don’t
know why people want to debate that one. What I did is needful and it is the
requirement, that is the role of the Central Bank to make sure that we have
assessed the amount of money in the economy and put it there,” he said.
Dr Mangudya said the introduction of the new notes and
coins was a response to normalise the economy which was now being distorted
even on the pricing front. Goods sold in cash are cheaper compared to those
sold in plastic money, a situation that has resulted in the sprouting of cash
shops in many major urban areas.
People, including pensioners, are also being forced to
sleep in bank queues to access cash. Some banks in Bulawayo have gone for about
three weeks without disbursing cash to clients. Dr Mangudya is also set to
announce new cash withdrawal limits which are currently pegged at $300 per week
for individuals. Sunday Mail
0 comments:
Post a Comment