Support local currency: MP

PARLIAMENTARIANS have called on Government to immediately work on eliminating corruption from all sectors as a way of restoring confidence in the recently introduced local currency.  

Speaking after moving a motion on the local currency in Parliament yesterday, Hwedza North legislator David Musabayana said it was the duty of all Members of Parliament to rally behind Government's decision to reintroduce the local currency.  

"I call upon this August House to support in earnest the new Zimbabwean currency as we are aware of the Government's noble intentions to mitigate the suffering of the general population. The continued use of the multi-currency regime was now a root cause of the suffering of ordinary Zimbabweans who had no easy access to the United States dollar which had emerged the dominant currency in this basket of currencies," said Musabayana.  

He said besides curbing corruption in all Government departments, it was important to ensure that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is independent in its operations.

"Introducing a Zimbabwean dollar may not be enough but we want the Government to add on a number of policy measures so that they will stabilise the economy. We propose that the Government accelerates the re-engagement process so that we promote investment into this country," he added.

According to Musabayana, confidence will only come with consistency in political stability and good corporate governance.  

"Madam Speaker, while we applaud the Minister's move to de-dollarise the economy, we also need to deal with the liquidity crisis that is currently happening in the economy. Workers and pensioners are spending valuable time which should be assigned to productivity to queuing at banking halls," said Musabayana.  

"We also want to encourage the Hon. Minister to pursue a strategy which brings back confidence into our domestic currency. We know confidence is anchored with consistency and confidence is also anchored on political stability and good corporate governance. We therefore urge the Minister to ensure that we have policies that inspire confidence in the eyes of domestic and foreign players."

Mberengwa South legislator Alum Mpofu said from the beginning, the introduction of the mono-currency was welcomed by the wider population of Zimbabwe.  

"The introduction of the mono-currency was good news especially to the majority of our population who had no access to the USD. It is also important to point out that as the Hon. Member who spoke before me, the mover of this motion has just indicated, there was need for stability in the economy," said Mpofu.  

"There was need to fight corruption because the USD had itself become a very important vehicle in the corrosive, corruptive practice that was now prevalent in the society."  

Mpofu added that the effort to fight corruption is very pivotal to Government's effort to attract foreign direct investment into this country.