Formal and informal traders are now rejecting the bond note which they say is fast losing value against the United States dollar, the most preferred currency in the country.
BY DESMOND CHINGARANDE/SILAS NKALA
The development came as most employees were earning paltry wages in local currency even though their employers were transacting in the greenback.
Nurses have downed tools over meagre earnings and were demanding that they be paid the equivalence of their 2017 US dollar salaries.
Informal traders in Harare, Matobo, Umzingwane district in Matabeleland South, Nkayi district in Matabeleland North and Mutare have stopped transacting in local currency.
In a snap survey carried out by NewsDay in Mbare yesterday, informal traders said they had ditched the local currency and those still accepting it were only taking higher denominations, the newly-introduced $10 and $20 notes.
They claimed that wholesalers and informal bulk traders were not accepting coins, $2 and $5 notes.
Justin Kazingizi, who operates a hardware shop at Magaba, said he was not taking local currency.
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“Our suppliers are now charging in US dollars and it will be senseless for me to charge that product in local currency and survive in business. We have since taken new measures not to accept bond notes or any form of buying in local currency,” Kazingizi said.
Another trader, James Sibanda said the hyperinflationary environment had forced him to abandon the local currency.
“These notes are now useless. We are now charging in US dollars, we are no longer taking bond coins, $2 and $5 notes,” Sibanda said.
“I have a lot of them at my residence, but cannot buy anything with them even those selling fresh produce are rejecting them so I cannot continue charging in bond when no one is willing to take the currency.”
In Mutare, several vendors were left counting their losses after some illegal money changers refused to exchange bond notes for US dollars saying the paper was now valueless.
Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation (Viset) secretary-general Samuel Wadzai confirmed that some of their members were rejecting bond notes, but blamed policy inconsistency on the side of government.
“We confirm some of our members are not accepting bond notes, but we are urging them to accept (them) as it is the legal tender accepted by the government. The bond is now useless, but it is the legal tender and they must accept it,” Wadzai said.
He said government should bring confidence in the market with the right policies that retain the value of the local currency.
Villagers in Matobo, Umzingwane districts in Matabeleland South and Nkayi district in Matabeleland North said shops in their localities were rejecting local currency.
A latest survey done by Habakkuk Trust last week revealed that shops in Matobo and Nkayi demanded forex for basic goods.
“In Matobo ward 11 shops were demanding forex for essential goods like mealie-meal, sugar, cooking oil, and flour, while they accepted local currency for smaller items such as salt and matches,” the trust report read.
“In some parts of Nkayi district shops were rejecting $2 and $5 bond notes.”
The trust called upon the government to speedily address the currency crisis as a matter of agency.
A resident of Esigodini in Umzingwane Jameson Mhlanga said the shops were rejecting bond notes and demanding Rand and US dollars.
Some fuel dealers around the country were reportedly also rejecting the bond coins, $2 and $5 in preference of $10, $20 and US dollars.
Contacted for a comment, Indigenous Petroleum Association of Zimbabwe chairperson, Aron Chinhara told NewsDay that he was driving and would respond later, but had not done so at the time of going to print.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers Association (CZR) president Denford Mutashu said the rejecting of local currency was largely speculative.
“Business is encouraged to continue to accept bond notes as legal tender,” he said.
“A currency should always perform key functions like storage of value, mode of exchange and has got to be stable for it to earn trust and confidence,” Mutashu said.
Mutashu said businesspeople were charging goods and services in US dollars due to the hyperinflationary environment and instability of the local currency.
However, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya in a statement yesterday said all local currency notes were still legal tender.
Mangudya urged members of the public who wished to exchange coins and old notes for new ones to do so through their banks which were mandated to serve them.
Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi in a statement yesterday urged the public to report businesspeople who were rejecting bond notes.
