Clarifying a statement, he issued on Monday in regard to
sanctions, Dr Mangudya shot down wild claims by some media outlets that the
central bank is being used to bust sanctions by noting that there are no
sanctions on Zimbabwean gold and therefore no persuasion to circumvent that
which does not exist.
This was quickly seized by the country’s detractors and excitable
opposition elements who sought and claimed that there are no sanctions on
Zimbabwe.
This is despite the fact that the country is under illegal
sanctions from the United States, which were imposed in 2001, in the form of
the Zimbabwe Democracy Recovery Act, which to this day seeks to reverse the
land reform programme and give land bank to white former farmers.
In an interview, Dr Mangudya said Zimbabwe remains under
sanctions that affect the movement of funds.
“Sanctions on Zimbabwe are through ZIDERA and augmented by
OFAC through placing of entities on the designated list of sanctions. What this
means is that whilst these sanctions are not directly on trade per se they
negatively affect the movement of funds within the international banking
system.
“The Zimbabwean banking sector has lost a substantial
number of corresponding banking relationships over the past 20 years, through
de-risking, because of the OFAC sanctions.
“OFAC sanctions also affect the smooth flow of funds across
the borders as financial institutions are obligated to comply with OFAC
sanctions. ZIDERA on the other hand is designed to put a credit freeze on
official financial flows to Zimbabwe,” said Dr Mangudya.
Yesterday morning, Dr Mangudya told a breakfast meeting in
Harare that allegations of money laundering through the RBZ, that were raised
by some media organisations could not go unchallenged.
“The snippets for the documentary that were coming are not
rumours or grapevine. When something like that is advertised, I will not sit
down and wait when someone is demonising the central bank and Government of
Zimbabwe. I am the custodian of the financial system in this country,” Mangudya
said.
“Money laundering is serious. Even when people say I
responded fast or I was supposed to wait, wait for what when the house is
burning? You are told that there is an allegation of money laundering in your
country and the Reserve Bank is the one cleaning it and you sleep comfortably
waiting, that’s not acceptable. We are a central bank that has its own
integrity,” said Dr Mangudya.
The US, through the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign
Assets Control administers and enforces its illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe using
its laws and the enforcement can result in heavy civil penalties or criminal
referrals.
Because of the sanctions, Zimbabwe’s access to
international credit markets was blocked following the enactment of ZIDERA, its
creditworthiness has declined as the country’s international financial risk profile
escalated.
Zimbabwean companies, banks included and individuals have
found it extremely difficult to effect payments through international payment
platforms as these transactions are intercepted and blocked because of the US
foothold on the global financial system.
Because of the sanctions, both companies and individuals
have had their accounts frozen or have in the case of banks been fined millions
of dollars for processing funds.
For instance, its public knowledge that Barclays Bank
Zimbabwe was fined US$2,5 million for processing 3 transactions for a
sanctioned entity. The Bank had to spend in excess of US$12 million to comply
with further requirements placed on it by OFAC and the US Treasury.
0 comments:
Post a Comment