RBZ rules out existence of fake bond notes

RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr John Mangudya has ruled out the existence of counterfeit bond notes in the market, saying only the printers and a few Government officials were aware of the specimens of the new notes.

In an interview, Dr Mangudya clarified that Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa was quoted out of context by the media. Dr Mangudya said the Finance Minister was referring to social media "jokes" on "types of bond notes." He said it was impossible to have counterfeits before the bond note specimens have been unveiled to the public. He said the specimens will only be disclosed a few days before distribution of the bond notes at the end of the month.

"We signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with the printers outside the country hence we can not disclose which country is printing the bond notes but it is not Germany or South Africa as has been alleged. I can confirm that the bond notes are still with the printers and delivery has not yet been done. No fake bond notes are in existence in the market, let that be clear," said Dr Mangudya.

Dr Mangudya explained that the bond notes would be released into the market on a gradual basis saying if there are no exports in the country there won't be any bond notes, as these are an export incentive.

He said the notes will be in $2 and $5 denominations, a move he said was meant to arrest inflation.

"The Zimbabwean economy has little money to cause inflation but deflation. A medium of exchange does not cause inflation as has been alluded to and people need to be clear on that," he said.

Dr Mangudya held a meeting with the small-scale mining community in Bulawayo yesterday where he clarified a number of issues including the $20 million facility for small-scale gold miners whose paperwork the miners have argued was too complex and needed to be simplified.

The RBZ secured $20 million for Fidelity Printers to support small-scale and artisanal mining operations in order to increase gold production in the country. He said the central bank had been in talks with the Home Affairs Ministry and the police had been advocating that no arrests be made for any miner found in possession of gold. He said those found with gold should be given time to sell it at Fidelity Printers and Refinery.

"We are trying to remove constraints for people selling gold to curb smuggling of the mineral to the black market. There should not be any arrests for possession but give the people time to go and sell. Over the past two months, the number of people who used to smuggle gold has gone down because of the five percent export incentive that they will get hence it's no longer lucrative to sell to the black market. They used to take about 500kg outside the country which is now coming to Fidelity Printers," said Dr Mangudya.

Dr Mangudya said incentives worked and were necessary to promote production as had been witnessed. He said the country had more than 13 million tonnes of gold underground but for the past 36 years only 586 tonnes had been extracted. He urged miners to produce more and said the money for buying gold was always available.

"Buying is different from the gold development initiative; the money to buy gold is always there. If you bring your gold to Fidelity we pay you cash. We are liberal to gold," he said.