THE Consumer Protection Commission together with the police and the Financial Intelligence Unit has launched a blitz on businesses refusing to accept the Zimdollar following the launch of a new currency last week.
But observers said the blitz was an “exercise in futility”
after the central bank postponed the rollout of the new currency.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mushayavanhu
last Friday introduced a new currency, Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG). The central bank
said the new notes and coins would be rolled out on April 30.
This has left citizens stranded as some shops refuse to
accept the Zimdollar. Those that are accepting the Zimdollar are using
ridiculous rates to convert it.
Consumer Protection Commission research and public affairs
manager Kudakwashe Mudereri confirmed that they had received complaints from
customers of unscrupulous businesses refusing to accept ZWL$ notes, in
violation of government policy.
“It is important to note that the ZWL$ remains legal tender
and the country’s citizens have been given 21 days to change their ZWL$ notes
and coins to ZiG,” Mudereri said, adding that: “The penalty is going to be
heavy on those found violating Exchange Control Regulations by refusing to
accept ZWL$ notes.”
Among those affected were consumers who were failing to buy
Zesa tokens with the new local currency.
The Zimbabwe National Roads Administration was yesterday
also refusing to accept the local currency at tollgates arguing that the
government had banned the local currency.
The situation has been worsened by banks that have taken
longer than expected to convert the ZWL$ balances to ZiG as fear swirled that
the move could negatively impact the reception of the new currency.
A roll call by NewsDay last night showed that African
Century, POSB, EmpowerBank, Stanbic Bank, O’mari MyCash and EcoCash had
successfully completed the currency conversion.
Zimbabwe has 19 banks made up of 14 commercial banks, four
building societies and one savings bank.
Notwithstanding the chaos, Zimbabwe’s sole national
electronic funds switch and clearing house has set transaction limits. The
person-to-person transaction limit has been set ZiG2 400. The monthly
transaction limit is ZiG8 000.
National Consumer Rights Association spokesperson Effie
Ncube described the introduction of ZiG as chaotic, adding that it would kill
confidence in the currency.
“Order is critical for market confidence which will decide
the value of the new currency. Having introduced different currencies on five
or so occasions in the past two decades, this time around the RBZ needed to be
more efficient and upfront with all the information,” Ncube said last night.
“That we have unanswered questions days after the
introduction of the new currency should have been avoided. The process should
be decisive and emphatic in all stages.
“People want to know what is different now and what is
there to prevent the same outcomes as was the case with previous currencies
since 2000.”
A banker last night said what RBZ had done was
unprecedented and worked against the adoption of a local currency.
“The Zimdollar has been discarded and there is a gap in the
market. You can’t go for 72 hours without a local currency and expect it to
wave its magic wand. After a week, people will say the local currency is no
longer necessary. If the economy has operated for three days without the
financial sector, the message is clear: The economy has informalised,” the
banker said.
An economist with a leading financial institution said the
failure by most banks to convert ZWL$ balances to ZiG and the postponed rollout
of the new currency will suck out the confidence that had been garnered after
Mushayavanhu declared that he would stick to his core business and would not
entertain interference from any quarter.
“It was easier to score than to miss. Unfortunately,
Mushayavanhu has blew that chance. Whether it will present itself again, no one
knows,” the economist said.
Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president
Obert Masaraure yesterday said the introduction of ZiG currency was meant to
punish the poor who had no access to US dollars.
“There is a transitional period, but government departments
and agencies are not accepting the ZWL$,” he said. Newsday
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