The past five months or so have been characterised by uncertainty and anxiety since Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor, John Mangudya announced what seemed like the imminent introduction of bond notes.
Comment: NewsDay Editor
Monetarily, Zimbabwe has been in a fragile state since Mangudya’s predecessor, Gideon Gono took over at the central bank.
So Zimbabweans are naturally wary of anything that poses a threat to the multi-currency regime, which gave them some semblance of stability for almost a decade.
Mangudya’s explanations on how bond notes would be used have been unconvincing at best, and this has brought jitters to an already fragile state of mind.
It has not helped that the central bank governor has kept pushing back the date for the introduction of the notes and this has caused uncertainty and anxiety in the market.
Mangudya reckons there has not been a run on the banks since his announcement, but the long queues at the banks are symptomatic of a people desperate to remove every cent from their accounts before the introduction of the bond notes.
It has not helped that some banks are giving up to $50 in bond coins and for the sceptics, their worst fears are being confirmed.
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While it is undoubted that there are cash shortages, this has been worsened by people withholding their cash and unwilling to spend it, until they have a clear picture of how the bond notes will work and how this will affect their pockets and savings.
Just saying bond notes are an export incentive is not nearly enough, as there needs to be an explanation on how they will permeate into the market.
We, like many other sectors, have been opposed to bond notes and we are cocksure they are not the panacea to the cash shortages.
But, as we know with this government, they do not seem to care what anyone else, but themselves think about solving the country’s problems and bond notes are likely to be introduced whether or not they have the confidence of the market.
Under the circumstances, RBZ should go out of its way explaining how these notes will work, instead of these haughty explanations they have been giving so far.
There are many holes with this export facility explanation they are giving us and the fact that no one seems to be privy to the arrangement with Afreximbank except the authorities, creates more suspicion and mistrust.
If the bond notes are rejected or if they fail to serve their purpose, then the blame lies squarely with Mangudya and his lot at RBZ, as they have not done nearly enough to reduce anxiety and allay the concerns of the doubting Thomases.
