'RBZ won't force public to use bond notes'

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe will not force the public to use bond notes but is rather trying to monetise the five percent export incentive without doing away with the multi-currency regime, Central Bank Governor Dr John Mangudya said.

Speaking at the Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016 breakfast meeting on Monday, Dr Mangudya said anyone who will not be interested in using the bond notes can just use plastic as an alternative or any other currencies."On bond notes the RBZ is not forcing the country to use them but was rather monetising the five percent export incentive without doing away with the multi-currency regime.

"The intrinsic value of the export bonus or incentive scheme is to attract and enhance exports by Zimbabweans so that at the end of the day there is enough foreign currency in this country," said Dr Mangudya.

"If you are getting a $400 salary, you will still get $400 in United States dollars, bond notes, rand or euros. If you don't want them then you use plastic money. We are not forcing anybody to use bond notes," he said.

Dr Mangudya also said there were no banks keeping money offshore to sabotage the economy adding that a tight monitoring system is in place to monitor the flow of forex from the economy.

"What I want to say is there are no banks keeping money offshore for the sake of trying to sabotage the economy. That is the reason why we have a foreign currency committee, which is always there to see how much money they have in their nostros and how much money they are giving to their customers," said Dr Mangudya.

He said to curb the current forex deficit, the central bank was in the process of coming up with a nostro stabilisation facility aimed at ensuring that the gap between demand for foreign currency and the money available is narrowed.

"We have arranged facilities for nostro stabilisation to ensure that the money needed for importation and needed to do business is available," he said.