News / National
Risk of fake bond notes
24 Nov 2016 at 04:48hrs | Views
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr John Mangudya said yesterday said RBZ will unveil specimen for the bond notes just before their release to minimise the risk of counterfeits notes.
"You do not put in the paper today then release them at the end of the month. If you do that then you give room for counterfeits.
"We do not want people to be duped. This is the standard for any note which is given out throughout the world so that you minimise counterfeits," said Dr Mangudya.
The bond notes are being introduced into the economy as an incentive for exporters. It is also envisaged they will help ease the biting cash shortages that have been prevailing in the country since early this year.
The central bank governor is on record saying the country lost an estimated $1,8 billion in 2015 alone through the smuggling of foreign currency or illicit financial flows.
In line with the growth in the card based transactions, the value of POS purchases increased by 38,7 percent to $190 million in October from $137 million a month earlier, reflecting gradual rise from $36 million since March. And Mangudya said that there was no justification for retailers, service stations and other businesses in Zimbabwe to decline electronic payments for goods and services or offer incentives such as discounts to entice the public to pay in cash.
This comes as some reputable retailers are demanding cash payments for cooking oil purchases arguing that manufacturers were demanding hard cash as well, as "required" by banks to facilitate foreign payments for unprocessed edible oil.
Source - online