Cabinet has only yesterday approved the currency reforms introduced by government two days ago which culminated in the scrapping of the multi currency system on local transactions.
Through Monday’s Statutory Instrument 142 of 2019 which was issued without cabinet approval, Government announced that it was abandoning the multiple currency regime to allow all local transactions to be conducted in the Zimbabwe dollar.
Addressing journalists following this week’s Cabinet meeting, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said cabinet had endorsed the move in retrospect and expects that the measures will go a long way in easing the plight of ordinary people who had been at the mercy of few individuals.
“Cabinet noted with satisfaction the decision taken by the monetary authorities to abolish the multi-currency system and replace it with a mono-currency as contained in Statutory Instrument 142 of 2019. This measure is a critical step towards the full restoration of a Zimbabwe sovereign currency as envisaged under the Transitional Stabilisation Programme.
“Cabinet also applauds the other supportive measures being introduced by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to bolster this initiative,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.
“Cabinet calls on all citizens and stakeholders to close ranks and give maximum support to these measures which are designed to ease the plight of all our people and to place our country’s economy on a firm growth trajectory.
“As Zimbabweans, let us be driven by the sense of national pride, self-belief and the commitment to guaranteeing the integrity of our financial system,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.
Responding to questions from journalists, Minister Mutsvangwa said the basic fundamentals for a local unit had been met.
“The scrapping of the multi-currency system shows that as a country we are moving to normalcy. The conditions which were said by the President should be met, are clearly in place and they include, increased revenue, decreased spending and budget surplus and those have been achieved. Honestly it is only normal for Government to take that decision,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.
“All what has been done is to remove the basket. It is only a Government of the people which looks at the needs of the majority and stops this unfair situation.”
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi defended Government decision to retain payment of duty on luxury goods.
He said it was reasonable that importers of luxury goods such as cars paid duty in hard currency since they would have procured the items in foreign currency.
Women Affairs, Community, Small to Medium Enterprises Development Minister Sithembiso Nyoni who is also Acting Minister of Finance and Economic Development said the success of the measures hinged on a collective effort by every Zimbabwean.