Bond notes demand overwhelming, claims Chinamasa

Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa has said there is overwhelming demand for the controversial bond notes by the public.

Chinamasa told parliamentarians on Wednesday that the $12 million worth of bond notes injected by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe on Monday have failed to meet the unprecedented demand.

"I want to rise and thank the Zimbabwean public for the overwhelming support that they have given to the bond notes.

"The point made by the Chief Whip, Hon. Matuke is very correct.
Twelve million bond notes were issued on Monday and this is not meeting the demand but the Reserve Bank has insisted that they will drip supply the bond notes into the market because they do not want to create any situation which is inflationary".

With high demand of the bond notes, Chinamasa begged the public  "to be patient.  Their needs will be met in the course of time" he is quoted by the parliamentary Hansard.

Several legislators had said their observations had revealed that banks are struggling to cope with the high demand of the bond notes.

The central bank introduced $2 and $5 bond notes and a surprise $1 coin on Monday.

Some retail outlets in Bulawayo are rejecting the bond notes preferring the US currency.

However, vendors are gladly accepting the notes.