By A Correspondent- Addressing delegates at an interactive meeting involving fiscal and monetary authorities and female church leaders at Zimbabwe House in Harare, Finance minister Mthuli Ncube said government abandoned the multi currency system because its scarcity presented challenges for the country.
Detailing what SI 142 was all about to the gathering, Ncube said:
“SI 142 is an instrument introduced by the Government which declared that the sole currency for use within the Zimbabwe borders is the Zimbabwe dollar and eliminated multi-currency.
This local currency is in the form of bond notes, coins and the RTGS dollar which is electronic money. Electronic version extends to EcoCash and other versions of mobile banking services and that is the essence of SI 142.
You are allowed to keep your foreign currency in your pockets because it’s your money, but if you go to the shops change it to local currency.
We introduced the mono currency because we realised that something was going wrong, people were demanding foreign currency yet we are in shortage of it.
Using the US dollar did not solve our foreign currency shortage, but it caused further problems.”
He said a country cannot develop without its own currency, saying Zimbabwe needed to be like other countries using their own currencies.
Prof Ncube added that the use of forex left the country vulnerable to sanctions.
“There were certain banks that were told to stop supplying US dollars to Zimbabwe because certain transactions would involve entities in Zimbabwe that are under sanctions.
“CBZ was fined US$350 million for doing some transactions where they thought they were helping and we are still negotiating a way out of that liability.
“Therefore the more we used US dollar, the more we expose the transactors and businesses to fines,” he said.
The minister also said the timing of the introduction of SI 142 was perfect adding that people should not compare the new era with the 2008 era.
He said by using multi-currency, the country was now creating a two-tier society.
“We now have our own currency and the Government is living within its means and once you are able to do so as Government, then you are ready to manage your domestic currency,” he said.
“Previously we were not living within our means, we were literally printing money and we don’t have to print money we only print what is necessary not excessively.
“This is not 2008, it’s a new era which will take us to Vision 2030. The timing was not sudden, it has been a journey,” he said.
Dr Mangudya also addressed the gathering and urged the public to use the legal channels to change their forex.
“We are on a transition to normalcy and let us make sure that transition is short and let us grow confidence. I can assure you that SI 142 will succeed,” he said.
“The introduction of SI 142 is to rebuild the walls of Zimbabwe and instead of using black market to change forex, open the bureau de change. It’s actually a short process to open. Let us shun illegal forex dealing. Black market won’t take us forward.”-StateMedia