Mayor calls for return of Zimdollar

Bulawayo Mayor Martin Moyo on Thursday expressed his dismay at the use of the United States dollar describing it as a danger to the economy that was spawning liquidity challenges.

Moyo told an end of year meeting by the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) about the ease of doing business and access to the European Union  market that failure by the country to control the available stock of foreign money was a key contributor to liquidity problems.

"There is money in the country but it is not in official banking circles. I was never a proponent of the comeback of the Zimbabwe dollar but the thing is you (would) want to control liquidity in the country, you want to control the stock that is available and circulating in the country and to guarantee the monetary authority knows such that if any of the notes are lost or torn they can check, replace or reprint," he said.

Moyo said he was not advocating for the printing of money notes without controls but he saw danger emanating from the continued use of the United States dollar.

"There is a big danger with the United States dollar because if we have a budget of $4 billion dollars, assuming we have this amount in the country and one takes a billion to Dubai, it then means it (United States dollar) has completely gone out of circulation and the next thing is we are suffering liquidity challenges as that money has no chance of coming back because it is not labelled Zimbabwe so it will find its way to the United States," he said.

Moyo said if it were South African rands which were taken to Europe, they would be converted to Euros and returned to South Africa and later onto Zimbabwe as they are of no use in Europe.

At the same event, European Union ambassador Phillipe Van Damme said Zimbabwe could not afford to bring back its local currency in the next few years because investors and citizens have lost trust in the currency.

"You cannot afford to bring back the Zimbabwean dollar over the next few years because you have to rebuild national and international trust in your economy," he said.

Zimbabwe abandoned its currency in 2009 after it was rendered useless by excessive inflation. The RBZ is expected to introduce bond coins next week in a bid to ease change challenges but the move has ignited concerns of the return of the Zimbabwe dollar.