Gono to consult Mugabe on foreign banks grab

Gideon Gono, the Zimbabwe Central Bank Governor, says he will be consulting with President Robert Mugabe for guidance on the latest moves by the country's indigenous minister to have foreign banks seized under the Zanu-PF led asset grab programme, a report said on Thursday.

President Robert Mugabe is expected to intervene in the battle between Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono and indigenous minister  Saviour Kasukuwere after Gono declared that foreign banks would be not be seized, reported Newsday.

The indigenous minister last Friday extended government's asset grab programme under the indigenisation laws to include banks, crèches, primary and secondary schools as well as institutions of higher learning. He gave foreign-owned banks a year to transfer 51% of their shareholding to locals.

But Gono on Thursday warned the move breached the country's own banking laws. He said he was now seeking a meeting with Mugabe - who is in Singapore until this weekend for a medical check-up - for guidance.

Gono said Kasukuwere's notice had been published without consultation with "monetary authorities in the country".