(HERALD ZW) Zanu-PF stance on Zimdollar hailed
August 8, 2013
Felex Share Herald Reporter
Zimbabweans yesterday hailed the move by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and Zanu-PF to continue with the multi-currency system and urged the revolutionary party to pursue the sound economic policies in its manifesto to revive the economy. RBZ Governor Dr Gideon Gono dismissed rumours that the Zimdollar would be immediately reintroduced, adding that there were no immediate plans to do away with the multi-currency regime.
The RBZ chief said the next Government would be cautious and gradual about reintroducing the local currency.
In separate interviews, Zimbabweans said the local currency should be re-introduced after the indigenisation and empowerment programme bears fruits.
Midlands State University lecturer Dr Nhamo Mhiripiri said the local currency should be introduced after all the challenges that bedevilled the economy prior to 2009 were done away with.
“People still need that stability of using the multiple currencies,” he said. “It is only after some time and after the success of the Zanu-PF initiated indigenisation programme that we can talk of the national currency.”
Dr Mhiripiri said the re-introduction of the local currency should not be rushed as the empowerment programmes needed time to shape up.
“For us to see that the indigenisation programme has been a success we do not need 100 days, but we are looking at more than two years,” Dr Mhiripiri said.
The Zanu-PF government introduced the multi-currency regime on January 29, 2009 before the birth of the inclusive Government after the Zimdollar was rendered worthless by sanctions-induced hyper-inflation.
MDC-T tried to claim credit for the policy to the extent of citing it as part of its achievements ahead of the harmonised elections.
The party threatened people that Zanu-PF would re-introduce the Zimdollar if voted into power, a move that saw some people falling the lie.
Political scientist Dr Joseph Kurebwa said the local currency should come when the country was financially stable.
“The conditions that necessitated the introduction of the multi-currency should be out of the away first before the Zimdollar can be re-introduced,” he said.
Mr Christopher Gwatidzo, a lecturer at the Midlands State University, said the re-introduced of the local currency should be guided Zanu-PF policies.
“The 2013 elections were never about the Zimdollar, but about a choice between taking back the economy through enhanced indigenisation and empowerment programmes enunciated by Zanu-PF or drinking the poisonous JUICE from the MDC-T,” he said.
“People have now spoken and let us be guided by the Zanu-PF manifesto.”
After the elections, some misguided elements embarked on a campaign to foment alarm and despondency by claiming that fuel prices had increased and that South African officials had re-introduced a visa for Zimbabweans crossing into their country.
The rumours have been dismissed as false by the relevant authorities.
Labels: GIDEON GONO, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR
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Zimdollar: When inventor-owner loses control to the doorman
Friday, 27 January 2012 21:44
There is nothing to be gained by seeking to interfere with the circulation of Morgan Tsvangirai's useless book.
I am very clear about what works and what does not work, clear about what edifies and what damages. There is nothing to be gained by seeking to interfere with the circulation of Morgan Tsvangirai's useless book. I reviewed it a few weeks back. It is a false testimony by a small man - an outsider to events - yet with enormous ambitions to be the centre of the universe. The book collapses that intention remarkably, spectacularly.
It is likely to coagulate before it even begins to circulate. It is neither a propaganda breakthrough nor a commercial success.
Why bother about it? Why give it an undeserved profile, an undeserved lease by lifting it to the status of an object of wretched pity? Why? The false saga of a little known bookseller in Victoria Falls and the State must end. Impedimenta too!
I say this with the formidableness of being Tsvangirai's most implacable opponent. I have no favours to grant him, which is why I can't suffer any flowing to him from the State through sheer inadvertence, sheer bungling even.
A Salman Rushdie?
This reminds me of Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses. Decidedly bad, decidedly opaque, the book hit international headlines not on its merits so hard to find, but simply because the Iranian spiritual leadership pronounced a fatwa on the author for insulting Moslems, more accurately for an irreverent view of figures apotheosised by their belief.
The Western world rose to the propaganda occasion. Rushdie, himself an anglicised Indian, became a focal point of Western security, less to protect him, more to defeat the threat from Iran, more to defeat Iran itself.
Remarkably, he became some tiny pawn in some planetary conflict between Iran and the West, a conflict which onion-like, permitted many layers of ideological interpretations: austere Islam versus permissive Christianity; the mullahs versus liberal democrats; autocrats versus the free world; religion versus free speech; faith versus the arts; conformity versus artistic freedom and licence . . . The list went on and on and the West was simply gloating all the way.
Here was the hemisphere of universal freedoms, the warrior hemisphere, extending its beneficent legacy to some Third World man of letters mortally threatened by the mullahs.
Rushdie, himself an anglicised Indian, became a focal point of Western security, less to protect him, more to defeat the threat from Iran, more to defeat Iran itself.
When mere possession brings utility
Rushdie the person went out of circulation. Rushdie the Satanic Verses went into sales overdrive. I also bought a copy of the book just about that time. I wrapped it in opaque paper and flew it into Zimbabwe, defiant on the brow, melting with mortal fear at heart. It went straight into my bedroom, never to be touched, never to be read anywhere else except in that small cubicle of nocturnal creative endeavors.
The day I opened the first page is the day I gave up reading the book at all. The book was decidedly opaque, both by way of style and by way of its preoccupations. I am no average reader, I can assure you, certainly not the type that gives up too soon on a literary piece. I ploughed through hard texts, including some written before medieval England, texts whose recondite meaning would only be recoverable through sound.
You had to listen to what you read, to grasp what the still-unknown author of Sir Gawain and the Green Nights meant.
But Rushdie was one hell of insuperable labour, much worse some stupendous labour in vain. I had more important matters to deal with. Yet to this day I hold this dubious satisfaction of owning a book that caused death, more accurately the threat of it.
When banning builds vocabulary
That cosmic altercation pitting Iran against the West did me one favour. It introduced me to two nouns: fatwa and Salman. I hardly use the former, except in jest to convey playful severity. As for the latter, well, Salman is now part of my literary collection. Less his novels, more his essays which are eminently readable, quite provocative and ticklish to the brain. I like him and thank Iran for introducing me to him, negatively.
It is the same with DH Lawrence. I read him copiously both because he writes well and because the so-called free world once banished his works or exactly the same vices which the West now parade as virtues that open avenues to Western aid.
It is the same with many Soviet writers. I mean Russian writers who got banned under the Soviet Union.
Same with prison endeavors of the likes of the radical Ngugi, the infiltrated Wole Soyinka, Dennis Brutus, the late Solomon Mutsvairo and his legendary Feso.
Man, woman the curious
Such is the puzzling nature of the human mind. Where you bar it from going, it strives exactly in that direction, preferably to be there, minimally to catch a quick glimpse of where angels are forbidden from treading.
This is why each time we squat to bless a reluctant tree, away from the madding and prying crowd, we always favour the smelly aftermath with a quick glance, albeit moderated by a shot of globule saliva deployed audibly, to creased face. We see, however briefly, what we have expelled from our bowels, then curse it with a gob of ferocious spit.
It is the same for all matters: from vomit to death, we always steal a glance at the odious, at the terrible, before turning away in utter disgust. After all, how do you gossip if you don't carry the ace of sight, of proximity at the very least? That is us, Man, Woman the Curious!
So, careful, let's not create heroes out of mediocrities. Much worse, Ian Smith's Great Betrayal circulates freely, only impeded by its own hidebound, racist views. You go to Avondale Flea Market, you find many copies of the book, untouched, presumably unread. We look absurd to interfere with bad output from one of our own, while enduring racist drivel from one who killed us for so many years.
In this porous age, you cannot ban, harass ideas. You defeat them through compelling counterpoints. This is how ideas are tamed, spoiled for the human mind. Don't seek to kill books. You don't win that one. So let Tsvangirai's book reach it's deep end, soonest. It's there already, so why delay it? Much worse, don't create needless dilemmas to those of us who live by words, by reading, whatever it is.
When authors of ruling ideas falter
Another useless endeavour relates to the Zimdollar debate. I don't know who started it, still less who has an interest in it, or profits from it. The returns seem too slender to mind the bother. But I certainly know who suffers from it.
Sometimes you think Zanu-PF has lost its instinct for self-preservation. Zanu-PF ended the reign of the Zimdollar, well before the formation of the inclusive Government. Patrick Chinamasa, then as Acting Finance Minister, presented this new policy package in the last budget of an exclusively Zanu-PF Government, and this following endless days and nights of inter-agency brainstorming.
Yours truly had something to do with it.
The policy and decision to dollarise was a Zanu- PF one, for better, for worse. As it has turned out, the idea is Zanu-PF's for better! Biti inherited it and wants to give it an MDC-T patent.
The inclusive Government inherited it and has been governing on the strength of it. Much worse, the inclusive Government wants to share it, so the accolades due to and deserved by Zanu-PF, are shared or dissipated.
If the gentle reader recalls my last instalment on who rules, who governs, then he/she has part answer from this matter. The inclusive Government has been governing on Zanu-PF's ideas on ruling. Only Mutumwa Mawere has problems in grasping this, less from diminished intellect, more from bitterness. He shall overcome that some day, hopefully some day soon. But that is the way things are, may be for a long time to come.
Money, Zimbabwe's camel
But Mawere is not my point. My point is why Zanu-PF, dog-with-rabbis-like, turns around to attack its own ideas, at the most unseemly of times. Ideas which its opponents are dying to pilfer. Or to pick and run with upon reckless dropping. Again make no mistake about it. I am Zimbabwean to the cell, furiously so. I am ready to kill for this country, most probably will do it in broad daylight, well in front and full view of awesome retribution.
I know what the Zimdollar does, whether as a unit of exchange, as a store of value and as much else that money does and is. Above all, I know what the Zimdollar means, as a national symbol, as an expression of full sovereignty. It is our national flag made mundane, our foremost symbol but with daily universal utility. I know all that. Kubasa kwangu uko!
But a symbol has to have a healthy relationship with its referent, please! It is that healthy relationship which gives a symbol potency, which gives it inexhaustible power. This even the more so where an object has value both in itself and associationally. As is the case with the Zimdollar. It must buy me something, including buying me other people's monies. It must keep my estate, look after my heirloom. All these and much more, it must competently do as an object-in-itself. When it does all those things, it is like a father in a stable home: too important to be done without, yet too commonplace to be noticed. It becomes your camel to an Arab, so critical yet hardly acknowledged.
Making subversion cheap
Between 1997 and 2009, the Zimdollar came under a withering attack. We could not defend it. Our Western opponents were going for the very pith of our being, both by way of sanctions and through this run on our currency. Savings were ruined, our monetised market was attacked. We reverted to barter, like days of yore. Our dollar became tattered, alongside it tearing the national spirit and the party's support base.
Much worse, subverting Zimbabwe became very cheap. You only needed a few thousand dollars to get trillions of Zimdollars for renting crowds and mischief. Above all, a mere hundred US dollars to alienate hearts and minds from own legacy, own heritage, from love for own cause, own country.
We lost a whole generation, a generation we are still to recover. We lowered the costs of our own subversion. We recruited for the West through myriad NGOs which did not have to levy heavy budgets on their Western sponsors. In the days of the Zimdollar, there was nothing as easy as funding an NGO, as keeping its workforce well motivated, living above the common condition.
Diamonds, a new symbol
The damage to national consciousness shall never be quantified. The damage to national pride shall take years and years to repair, if at all. We are a wounded consciousness, something we are beginning to rebuild through a complex mix of measures, not least among them our diamond find which the Americans still try to attack in order to keep us in insufficiency.
The diamonds have become objects that solve daily national challenges; but they have also become little glistening symbols of what we exclusively have which the world badly wants and therefore needs.
And that we control or may control up to 25-30 percent of world supply, readily meets of long-felt national craving for global importance.
And vengeance too, with the attendant cathartic effect. We have been hurt by spiteful nations and have nursed deep injuries that will not heal unappeased.
Today diamonds come in as that anodyne, that antidote to a long-nursed national injury, too long suffered low national self-esteem induced by unremitting, media-led attacks on the national soul. Come to think of it, that is one reason this column came into being, back then in mid-2000.
One conversation that haunts
"Ko imi vanhu veHarare maakuita sei futi?"
"Chiiko nhai Sekuru?"
"Hanzi mavakuda kudzosa Zimdollar zvakare?"
"Ko hamudi mari yenyuwo here senyika? Zvakare hamuoni here kuti USA racho raveZimdollar?"
"Kwete, zvitori nani panekutiunzira Zimdollar mematambudziko atakabva kwaari. Chiona nhasi, pension yangu yese tsvai! Saka ndakashandirei makore ose aya?"
What symbol money buys
This is one conversation I had in my rural home. My interlocutor was a close relative and a well-known party supporter who is also a pensioner. You could not miss the horror of recall shooting, through his dwindling eyes.
I bet this conversation is typical, only modulated by the degree of reverence and respect. In some cases it projects itself in violent terms, itself some release to pent-up anger from ruined prospects, ruined lives.
But there is quick acknowledgement that the US dollar is hard to come by, indeed has severely restricted and curtailed rural commerce, rural transactions.
But such woes pale into insignificance when you suggest the return of the dollar against felt fragility on the national economy, against continuing hostility from the West. Much worse, against the prevalence of the US dollar in the economy.
Let me make a simple yet missed postulate. Money as a national symbol follows on money as a transaction unit and storer of value. With money we all become practical before we become willing consumers of symbols. Money must buy for us before we can buy into it, into its symbolic value beyond the transactional. I am sure I am not developing a new theory of money, merely restating it with a touch of an ordinary man and woman's view of it.
When the doorman calls the shot
Let us be careful, very careful. We should never seek to glorify money before it has glorified us at the marketplace. Maslow does not allow that. Symbols operate at the superordinate, while objects of utility - money included - operate at the lower order level. First things first, please! Which is to say what? Well, to say there are things we need to do first to steady the wobbly economy and our wobbly faith in its instruments.
My gosh, why am I sounding like Biti? Of course I am not sounding like Biti. I, Zanu-PF, have allowed Biti to sound like me without forcing him to acknowledge by at least a footnote! Zanu-PF invented the train of dollarisation, itself as a tactical panacea to an all-out assault on its economy by the spiteful West. Somewhere down the track, it picked up a doorman and drove on. Today the doorman tells the inventor-owner how far to go with the train?
Let me restate: the idea to dollarise was Zanu-PF's. That idea happens to be administered by Biti in the inclusive Government. His little addition to it was simply to source coins for it, even then to great, forbidding cost which made the tiny idea dissuading enough. Today he pranks as the-dollar-must-continue warrior, assisted by our own reticence or even suicidal confusion. Why? Why perforate our vote through a useless proposal, made more hideous by very poor timing? We are going for elections shortly. Why divide or even throw doubt into our support base, through an inane argument over the Zimdollar? In the end we lose the argument, the election, the country and the Zimdollar? Toti taitei? When in fact all it takes is to go to elections, wallop these quislings and then rule by effective governing. Totonga marudzi! What's wrong with us?
Yuanising the economy?
I would have understood and deferred if someone was pursuing VP Mujuru's brilliant idea of yuanising our economy. It would make sense practically, given Chinese readiness to open banks in Zimbabwe the same way they have done so in Zambia. It would reinforce our Look East Policy in a big way, while reposing our value in a more stable currency of a dominant economy which is becoming a major source market for raw and capital goods.
Not this one. Let us face it, the fate of the Zimdollar will not rest in the ingenuity of the man at the Central Bank, whether current or prospective. We are not an ordinary country. We are not surviving in ordinary times. The fate of the Zimdollar will be tied to two major factors: our economy and our relations with the West. Both are outside the dollar, while shaping it. Both remain implacably bad, worsening even. What an inauspicious moment, what horrible timing!
A lesson from a karateka
My parting shot flows from the dojo, or karate ground. One basic lesson you are taught quite early in your training is never to give your opponent a wide target. This is why a karateka's stance is always sideways, projecting the shoulder side of the thrusting forehand. Your opponent only sees the narrow edge of your body, trimmed narrower by tension, but also formidably defended by a restless hand and nimble forward leg. Never give the enemy your whole body; never punish your hand and leg by giving them too large a surface area to defend.
Restoring the Zimdollar at this stage is like swerving a combat body forward, baring the chest, stomach, groin and all. From head to cuff, the enemy will pick and choose, possibly preferring to gut your manhood, dropping it to the floor with a mighty thud, leaving it to wriggle, toss and turn much like a broken tail-end of a wall lizard. You will be your opponent's delight, granting him an easy IPON. Wake up Zanu-PF. Icho!
* nathaniel.manheru@zimpapers.co.zw
Labels: NATHANIEL MANHERU, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR
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MDC-T blasts Zimdollar calls, indigenisation
17/12/2011 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party has dismissed calls for the return of the Zimbabwe dollar and demanded a new “genuine” empowerment policy instead of the current “asset stripping and self aggrandizement” by members of an already wealthy black elite
President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party recently said the coalition government would be instructed to re-instate the Zimbabwe dollar which was ditched in 2009 after being rendered virtually worthless by world-record inflation.
The calls were backed by central bank chief, Gideon Gono who said a return of the currency was feasible adding: "The form and manner as well as the resumption of the proposed new Zimbabwe dollar or whatever it will be called will obviously take into account our national reserves in terms of strategic and precious metals such as gold reserves for back up.”
But in resolutions passed at its national council meeting in Harare Saturday, the MDC-T said the current multiple currency regime would stay in place in the medium term.
“The party calls on Government to maintain the multi-currency system, maintain the Medium Term Plan (MTP) and categorically states that there will be no return of the Zimbabwe dollar in the short to medium term,” the party said.
The party also blasted the empowerment model being pushed by Mugabe’s Zanu PF party, dismissing it as “asset stripping, looting, patronage, clientelism, corruption and self aggrandizement”.
The MDC-T said the country need a fresh programme that balanced empowerment with the need to attract investment and grow the country’s economy.
“The party restates that Zanu PF’s programme … is based on a narrow model of transferring shares to a few black elite that can afford them and does not amount to genuine wealth creation and distribution,” the party said.
“The (MDC-T) therefore calls for the starting afresh of the whole programme and the development of a genuine broad-based upliftment programme which balances the need to attract investment, grow the economy and create jobs.”
Under the current approach foreign-owned companies are required by law to transfer ownership of at least 51 percent of their shareholding to clack locals.
Zanu PF insists the programme will help economically empower the country’s previously marginalised back majority.
But critics say the policy risks harming the country’s economy by undermining much-needed foreign investment.
[Only neoliberal neocolonials insist that Zimbabwe's need is for 'much needed foreign investment'. Foreign investment means foreign ownership of the economy, something Zimbabwe is not in dire need of. Instead, use the money from diamond sales to re-invest in the economy. - MrK]
Gono also called for a re-think of the approach arguing the current model would only benefit a select few.
Labels: MDC, SABOTAGE, TREASON, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR
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COMMENT - What the MDC don't mention is that it is much easier to claw back resources owned by local Zimbabweans, than it is to see back anything taken out of the country by transnational corporations. They are a neoliberal, shock doctrine, regime change party, nothing more.
MDC-T blasts Zimdollar calls, indigenisation
17/12/2011 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party has dismissed calls for the return of the Zimbabwe dollar and demanded a new “genuine” empowerment policy instead of the current “asset stripping and self aggrandizement” by members of an already wealthy black elite.
President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party recently said the coalition government would be instructed to re-instate the Zimbabwe dollar which was ditched in 2009 after being rendered virtually worthless by world-record inflation.
The calls were backed by central bank chief, Gideon Gono who said a return of the currency was feasible adding: "The form and manner as well as the resumption of the proposed new Zimbabwe dollar or whatever it will be called will obviously take into account our national reserves in terms of strategic and precious metals such as gold reserves for back up.”
But in resolutions passed at its national council meeting in Harare Saturday, the MDC-T said the current multiple currency regime would stay in place in the medium term.
“The party calls on Government to maintain the multi-currency system, maintain the Medium Term Plan (MTP) and categorically states that there will be no return of the Zimbabwe dollar in the short to medium term,” the party said.
The party also blasted the empowerment model being pushed by Mugabe’s Zanu PF party, dismissing it as “asset stripping, looting, patronage, clientelism, corruption and self aggrandizement”.
The MDC-T said the country need a fresh programme that balanced empowerment with the need to attract investment and grow the country’s economy.
“The party restates that Zanu PF’s programme … is based on a narrow model of transferring shares to a few black elite that can afford them and does not amount to genuine wealth creation and distribution,” the party said.
“The (MDC-T) therefore calls for the starting afresh of the whole programme and the development of a genuine broad-based upliftment programme which balances the need to attract investment, grow the economy and create jobs.”
[That is code for failed neoliberal economics that have brought poverty to all of Africa and the world for the last two decades. 'Create jobs' means foreign ownership of the economy. 'Attract investment' means not restricting the outflow of wealth and capital from Zimbabwe. 'Grow the economy' means grow GDP, irrelevant of who owns that GDP. The MDC is for the complete surrender of the Zimbabwean economy to transnational corporations. Also, they are liars woh refuse to spell out to the Zimbabwean people what their policies really mean. Because the Zimbabwean people have been there before, and then, it was called ESAP - the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Programme. Which was to 'structurally adjust' the Zimbabwean economy to permanent ownership by transnational corporations, and destroy any hopes for the creation of a broad based middle class. - MrK]
Under the current approach foreign-owned companies are required by law to transfer ownership of at least 51 percent of their shareholding to black locals.
Zanu PF insists the programme will help economically empower the country’s previously marginalised back majority.
But critics say the policy risks harming the country’s economy by undermining much-needed foreign investment.
Gono also called for a re-think of the approach arguing the current model would only benefit a select few.
Labels: INDIGENIZATION AND EMPOWERMENT ACT (ZIMBABWE), MDC, NEOLIBERALISM, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR
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Gono, Zanu PF push Zim-dollar return
12/12/2011 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party, supported by central bank chief, Gideon Gono have initiated moves to bring back the Zimbabwe dollar which was ditched in 2009 after being rendered worthless by hyperinflation.
Among the resolutions to come out of the Zanu PF national conference held in Bulawayo was a demand for the introduction of a domestic currency to operate alongside the current foreign currencies.
The party said the coalition government would be instructed to “work out modalities for the reintroduction of domestic currency alongside the multi-currency system in order to address the current liquidity crisis and to enable our people to carry out their transactions".
And Gono, whose polices critics blame for stocking inflation, said Zanu PF’s demand was feasible.
"The form and manner as well as the resumption of the proposed new Zimbabwe dollar or whatever it will be called will obviously take into account our national reserves in terms of strategic and precious metals such as gold reserves for back up," Gono told the state-run Herald newspaper.
He said the country needs to review its use of the United States dollar in view of the current debt crisis in the US and the Euro Zone.
"We must guard against putting all our eggs in one basket," he said.
“(Zimbabwe) cannot remain blind to the fact that when the US and the Eurozone catch a cold as is currently the case, those that depend on these currencies for their national accounting will also get a cold."
However, bankers and economic analysts have urged caution, warning the country’s economy was not ready for the return of the Zim dollar.
"We are not yet there. The only possible time we can have the local currency is when we have adequate import cover,” Bankers Association of Zimbabwe president, John Mushayavanhu said.
“We should work to generate adequate exports because figures presented by the Minister of Finance recently showed that we are importing more than what we are exporting, so we cannot have our own currency now."
Economist, Takunda Mugaga added: "If we reintroduce the Zimdollar at the moment, it is bound to be unpopular not because people do not like their local currency, but it will be competing against strong currencies such as the US dollar.
"The US dollar is a strong currency and this is why is it demanded worldwide. Our capacity utilisation as a country currently stands at 57 percent and it is still not practical to introduce the Zimdollar."
During his 2011 national budget announcement, Finance Minister Tendai Biti ruled out a return of the Zimbabwe dollar insisting the current multiple currency regime would remain in place until 2013, at the earliest.
But Zanu PF spokesperson, Rugare Gumbo said the party would reintroduce the Zim dollar after elections expected next year.
"Reintroduction of the Zim-dollar is not possible under the inclusive Government. It is only possible after we have elections when we will have control of the finance portfolio," Gumbo said.
"Once we are in control, we will then go to Parliament and make sure that it is ratified. At the moment we can make a proposal, but (Minister) Biti does whatever he wants and this is why we are saying we should have elections."
Labels: GIDEON GONO, ZANU-PF, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR
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Gono nudges Zimbabwe towards yuan
28/11/2011 00:00:00
by Business Reporter
RESERVE Bank governor Gideon Gono has warned that Zimbabwe’s nascent economic recovery is at the mercy of the United States dollar, which is facing new pressures from the Euro-zone debt crisis.
Gono says Zimbabwe should in fact be looking to the Chinese yuan as its main currency, while urgently seeking to restore its own currency which was abandoned in 2009 after a dramatic loss of its value.
Speaking in Gweru last Saturday, Gono said: “The extraordinary happenings in Europe where economic power houses in the Euro-zone have been hit by a debt crisis deserves extraordinary measures, especially here in Zimbabwe where we have adopted the U dollar as the major currency in our multi-currency regime.
"With the continuous firming of the Chinese yuan, the US dollar is fast ceasing to be the world's reserve currency and the Euro-Zone debt crisis has made things even worse.
“As a country, we still have the opportunity to avoid being caught napping by adopting the Chinese yuan as part of consolidating the country's look East policy.”
China is now Zimbabwe’s biggest trading partner, with the Asian giant absorbing most of the country’s mineral and agricultural produce.
Vice President Joice Mujuru first raised the possibility of adopting the yuan in September last year, saying it would be a “logical step” and could help solve some of the country’s liquidity constraints.
The multiple currency regime announced in January 2009 has been fraught with difficulties. Retailers are supposed to accept the Euro and the British pound but those two currencies have never caught on, with most transactions being conducted in United States dollars, the South African rand and the Botswana pula.
Finance Minister Biti presented his 2012 budget last week and expects the multiple currency regime to remain in place at least until the end of 2012 when ministers hope it would be replaced by a single currency for the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).
Gono, speaking at theConfederation of Zimbabwe Industries' (CZI) end-of-year business dinner, said the use of foreign currency was ultimately unsustainable in the long run.
“As long as we continue to use other people's currencies, where we do not have control over that currency, we are not going anywhere as a nation,” he said.
“At the moment the US dollar is going down the tube owing to the Euro-zone debt crisis and as a country, we are also going down the tube because we do not have control of that currency.
"The year 2012 should thus see Zimbabwe coming up with its own currency which we should be using without ruling out the multicurrency system until the economy stabilises.”
The demise of the Zimbabwe dollar is attributed in no small measure to Gono’s policy of printing money, but he insists that his actions were in response to an unprecedented economic crisis which called for “extraordinary measures”.
Labels: GIDEON GONO, YUAN, ZIMBABWE, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR
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Restitution of "burnt" money would cost treasury US$54 billion
Friday, 07 October 2011 20:22
GOVERNMENT will impose a benchmark when compensating people whose savings were eroded after dollarisation as it emerged wholesome restitution including those who “burnt” money would cost Treasury US$54 billion.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti said the cutoff plan was meant to make sure people like pensioners and genuine depositors affected by the dollarisation of the economy were compensated. He said at the official exchange rate, US$54 billion required to collapse all the Zimbabwean dollar accounts would “choke” the country.
Minister Biti was speaking in the House of Assembly on Wednesday while responding to a question from Uzumba legislator Cde Simbaneuta Mudarikwa (Zanu-PF) who wanted to know if the 2012 national budget would have provisions for Zimbabwean dollar account holders. Cde Mudarikwa wanted to know the rate that Minister Biti was proposing to cater for especially pensioners whose pensions were affected by the change from Zimbabwean dollars to foreign currency.
“The majority of Cabinet members seem to favour that we come up with a cutoff point,” Minister Biti said.
“If you had a quintillion dollars and above, we make the assumption that you were ‘burning’, so we cutoff there.
“We protect the poor people and so forth. We might come up with that because a lot of our people who have quintillions and so forth do not have audit files.
“If you review their tax files, they have not paid their tax. We might do so, but it is just the rate and amount that are creating a situation that we are not happy with. It will be meaningful if one gets something like US$200.”
Minister Biti said in the 2011 National Budget, about US$7 million had been set aside for compensating Zimbabwe dollar account holders at the United Nations prevailing rate of US$1 to 35 quadrillion as at December 31, 2008. But if the money was converted by banks, Minister Biti said, some people would have received as little as US10 cents while big accounts were the only ones that would have received decent money.
He said the other option was to find about US$20 million, which he said was a difficult task. Minister Biti said this approach would only see people who were “burning” money benefiting at the expense of genuine and innocent account holders. Before his Mid-Term Fiscal Policy Review this year, Minister Biti said Government had rescinded its decision to disburse US$7 million it had budgeted in the 2011 national budget for compensating Zimbabwean dollar account holders after banks presented a bloated payout bill.
He said the banks wanted to milk Government amid allegations that some bank workers had rushed to credit their Zimbabwean dollar accounts with more money. Minister Biti said instead of US$6 million, banks had presented a payout bill of more than US$18 million. - CHRONICLE
Labels: TENDAI BITI, ZDERA, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR
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Zimdollar: Compensation benchmark in pipeline
Saturday, 08 October 2011 00:00
Lloyd Gumbo Herald Reporter
GOVERNMENT will impose a benchmark when compensating people whose savings were eroded after dollarisation as it emerged wholesome restitution, including those who "burnt" money, would cost Treasury US$54 billion. Finance Minister Tendai Biti said the cut-off plan was meant to ensure pensioners and genuine depositors were compensated.
He said at the official exchange rate, US$54 billion required to collapse all the Zimdollar accounts would "choke" the country. Minister Biti was speaking in the House of Assembly on Wednesday while responding to a question from Uzumba legislator Cde Simbaneuta Mudarikwa (Zanu-PF) who wanted to know if the 2012 national budget would have provisions for Zimdollar account holders.
Cde Mudarikwa wanted to know the rate that Minister Biti was proposing to cater for, especially pensioners whose pensions were affected by the change from Zimbabwean dollars to foreign currency.
"The majority of Cabinet members seem to favour that we come up with a cut-off point," Minister Biti said.
"If you had a quintillion dollars and above, we make the assumption that you were ‘burning', so we cut-off there.
"We protect the poor people and so forth. We might come up with that because a lot of our people who have quintillions and so forth do not have audit files.
"If you review their tax files, they have not paid their tax.
MORE...
* Treasury in Zimdollar exchange dilemma
* ‘Pay Zim dollar account holders the equivalent'
* Zimdollar-era retirees must be compensated - experts
* Cash for Zimdollar accounts?
"We might do so, but it is just the rate and amount that are creating a situation that we are not happy with. It will be meaningful if one gets something like US$200."
Minister Biti said in the 2011 National Budget, about US$7 million had been set aside for compensating Zimdollar account holders at the United Nations prevailing rate of US$1 to 35 quadrillion as at December 31, 2008.
But if the money was converted by banks, Minister Biti said, some people would have received as little as US10 cents while big accounts were the only ones that would have received decent money.
He said the other option was to find about US$20 million, which he said was difficult.
Minister Biti said this approach would only see people who were "burning" money benefiting at the expense of genuine and innocent account holders.
Before his Mid-Term Fiscal Policy Review this year, Minister Biti said Government had rescinded its decision to disburse US$7 million it had budgeted in the 2011 National Budget for compensating Zimdollar account holders after banks presented a bloated payout bill.
He said the banks wanted to milk Government amid allegations that some bank workers had rushed to credit their Zimdollar accounts with more money. Minister Biti said instead of US$6 million, banks had presented a payout bill of more than US$18 million.
Labels: TENDAI BITI, ZDERA, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR
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Zimdollar: Compensation benchmark in pipeline
Saturday, 08 October 2011 00:00
Lloyd Gumbo Herald Reporter
GOVERNMENT will impose a benchmark when compensating people whose savings were eroded after dollarisation as it emerged wholesome restitution, including those who "burnt" money, would cost Treasury US$54 billion. Finance Minister Tendai Biti said the cut-off plan was meant to ensure pensioners and genuine depositors were compensated.
He said at the official exchange rate, US$54 billion required to collapse all the Zimdollar accounts would "choke" the country. Minister Biti was speaking in the House of Assembly on Wednesday while responding to a question from Uzumba legislator Cde Simbaneuta Mudarikwa (Zanu-PF) who wanted to know if the 2012 national budget would have provisions for Zimdollar account holders.
Cde Mudarikwa wanted to know the rate that Minister Biti was proposing to cater for, especially pensioners whose pensions were affected by the change from Zimbabwean dollars to foreign currency.
"The majority of Cabinet members seem to favour that we come up with a cut-off point," Minister Biti said.
"If you had a quintillion dollars and above, we make the assumption that you were ‘burning', so we cut-off there.
"We protect the poor people and so forth. We might come up with that because a lot of our people who have quintillions and so forth do not have audit files.
"If you review their tax files, they have not paid their tax.
MORE...
* Treasury in Zimdollar exchange dilemma
* ‘Pay Zim dollar account holders the equivalent'
* Zimdollar-era retirees must be compensated - experts
* Cash for Zimdollar accounts?
"We might do so, but it is just the rate and amount that are creating a situation that we are not happy with. It will be meaningful if one gets something like US$200."
Minister Biti said in the 2011 National Budget, about US$7 million had been set aside for compensating Zimdollar account holders at the United Nations prevailing rate of US$1 to 35 quadrillion as at December 31, 2008.
But if the money was converted by banks, Minister Biti said, some people would have received as little as US10 cents while big accounts were the only ones that would have received decent money.
He said the other option was to find about US$20 million, which he said was difficult.
Minister Biti said this approach would only see people who were "burning" money benefiting at the expense of genuine and innocent account holders.
Before his Mid-Term Fiscal Policy Review this year, Minister Biti said Government had rescinded its decision to disburse US$7 million it had budgeted in the 2011 National Budget for compensating Zimdollar account holders after banks presented a bloated payout bill.
He said the banks wanted to milk Government amid allegations that some bank workers had rushed to credit their Zimdollar accounts with more money. Minister Biti said instead of US$6 million, banks had presented a payout bill of more than US$18 million.
Labels: TENDAI BITI, ZDERA, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR
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Zimdollar: Compensation benchmark in pipeline
Saturday, 08 October 2011 00:00
Lloyd Gumbo Herald Reporter
GOVERNMENT will impose a benchmark when compensating people whose savings were eroded after dollarisation as it emerged wholesome restitution, including those who "burnt" money, would cost Treasury US$54 billion.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti said the cut-off plan was meant to ensure pensioners and genuine depositors were compensated. He said at the official exchange rate, US$54 billion required to collapse all the Zimdollar accounts would "choke" the country.
Minister Biti was speaking in the House of Assembly on Wednesday while responding to a question from Uzumba legislator Cde Simbaneuta Mudarikwa (Zanu-PF) who wanted to know if the 2012 national budget would have provisions for Zimdollar account holders.
Cde Mudarikwa wanted to know the rate that Minister Biti was proposing to cater for, especially pensioners whose pensions were affected by the change from Zimbabwean dollars to foreign currency.
"The majority of Cabinet members seem to favour that we come up with a cut-off point," Minister Biti said.
"If you had a quintillion dollars and above, we make the assumption that you were ‘burning', so we cut-off there.
"We protect the poor people and so forth. We might come up with that because a lot of our people who have quintillions and so forth do not have audit files.
"If you review their tax files, they have not paid their tax.
"We might do so, but it is just the rate and amount that are creating a situation that we are not happy with. It will be meaningful if one gets something like US$200."
Minister Biti said in the 2011 National Budget, about US$7 million had been set aside for compensating Zimdollar account holders at the United Nations prevailing rate of US$1 to 35 quadrillion as at December 31, 2008.
But if the money was converted by banks, Minister Biti said, some people would have received as little as US10 cents while big accounts were the only ones that would have received decent money.
He said the other option was to find about US$20 million, which he said was difficult.
Minister Biti said this approach would only see people who were "burning" money benefiting at the expense of genuine and innocent account holders.
Before his Mid-Term Fiscal Policy Review this year, Minister Biti said Government had rescinded its decision to disburse US$7 million it had budgeted in the 2011 National Budget for compensating Zimdollar account holders after banks presented a bloated payout bill.
He said the banks wanted to milk Government amid allegations that some bank workers had rushed to credit their Zimdollar accounts with more money.
Minister Biti said instead of US$6 million, banks had presented a payout bill of more than US$18 million.
Labels: TENDAI BITI, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR
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Treasury in Zimdollar exchange dilemma
Friday, 30 September 2011 02:00
Zvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter
TREASURY is still to determine the exchange rate to use in settling payment of Zimbabwean dollar account holders following the Government's decision to demonitise the local unit, Finance Minister Tendai Biti has said.
He said Treasury was facing a dilemma to come up with a formula to use in determining payment since there were four exchange rates in use during the Zimbabwe dollar era.
The minister was responding to questions from journalists at the launch of the 2012 Budget rollout plan.
He said during the Zimbabwe dollar era there was the cash rate, Real Time Gross Settlement Rate, parallel market rate and the official exchange rate.
Government was, therefore in a quandary as to where the use of the official exchange rate would see Treasury faced with a bill amounting to billions of US dollars while relying on the parallel market would amount to legitimising something illegal.
"That's the dilemma we are facing," he said. "It's an operational issue: we are committed to demonitisation," said Minister Biti.
In his Mid-Term Fiscal Policy Statement in July, Minister Biti estimated that the demonetisation exercise would cost about US$6 million.
"This amount will need to be provided for through the Budget. A committee comprising officials from Government and the Bankers' Association of Zimbabwe is currently working on the requisite details and modalities to operationalise the process," he said.
Turning to the 2012 National Budget, Minister Biti said it would be predicated on fundamental macroeconomic instruments.
He said the budget intends to achieve economic growth and job creation and would be premised on pragmatism. The rollout plan meant his ministry would now embark on a series of extensive consultative meetings with stakeholders throughout the country.
Minister Biti said he would present the 2012 strategy paper in Parliament next Tuesday.
The paper is aimed at giving the fiscal framework and guide Government departments and reduce expectations "so that we don't dream".
"The budget will be underpinned by realism and pragmatism, the pragmatism that we have a narrow fiscal space - we have to live within our means and cut our cloth to size," he said.
Non-discretional expenses, such as salaries, would constitute the bulk of the budget, leaving "a small window" for discretionaryexpenditure such as water and other social services.
He said the economy had been "hamstrung" by the failure to implement agreed programmes concluded either at Cabinet or committee level.
"There is kwashiorkor of common vision," he said. "The slow pace of reforms and implementation of agreed programmes . . . the crisis at Air Zimbabwe and at the Grain Marketing Board are indicative of the slow pace of reforms."
Turning to the 2011 National Budget performance, Minister Biti said while he remained optimistic that the country would achieve its growth and revenue targets, he was worried at how Government departments were spending their money.
He said travelling alone had gobbled about US$40 million since the beginning of the year, something he said was "unsustainable".
"Our travelling expenditure of US$40 million is pathetic, considering that we owe farmers US$35 million," he said.
Labels: TENDAI BITI, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR
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Zimdollar-era retirees must be compensated — experts
Thursday, 28 July 2011 02:00
From Peter Matambanadzo in NYANGA
WORKERS dismissed or retired before the introduction of multiple currencies in February 2009 should not go empty-handed and uncompensated, legal experts have said.
Those with pending disputes should app-roach the courts for redress, the judges said.
Judges attending the on-going workshop on international labour standards organised by the International Labour Organisation and the Ministry of Labour and Social Services said most workers had abandoned their claims as employers wanted to compensate them in Zimbabwean dollars. Presenting a paper on Zimbabwe's experience on the judicial use of international law, Labour Court president Mr Custom Kachambwa said Zimbabwe should use landmark judgments such as the Flexmail quantification of damages, which ruled that the worker must be compensated in multiple currencies, which are now the legal tender.
"The Zimbabwe dollar is still legal tender but no one wants to accept it. We have a problem of workers that were dismissed before February 2009 whose cases are still pending since most of them had given up but we are saying to the workers they should go back to the courts and present their cases," Mr Kachambwa said.
He said most employers wanted to compensate their ex-workers in Zimbabwe dollars but this was not acceptable.
"It is not fair for a worker after serving the company for many years to go uncompensated. Workers must not go empty handed as they had gone for a long time without being compensated as most have abandoned their cases. This business of employers wanting to see the worker going empty handed is diabolic," he said.
Mr Kachambwa said most employers were reluctant to compensate their workers and some cases had taken more than four years to be finalised.
He noted that it was horrendous that some workers had died before getting their packages.
"Employers should be the ones on the forefront to negotiate payment with their employees but it seems that they are not co-operating. They simply come and say we will pay in Zimbabwe dollars," he said.
Another Labour Court judge Mrs Justice Euna Makamure said people must not be worried about the technicality of the exchange rates to be used when working out the quantum of damages since the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe had a framework which it used in the exchange rates.
"When the Zimbabwean dollar was still in circulation, the RBZ authorized companies to reward their workers in foreign currency. There were many companies that applied to the RBZ to pay their workers in US dollars or in Rand and they were granted the permission," she said.
High Court judge Justice Andrew Mute-ma called for an enactment of a specific legislation, which deals with currency disparities.
"The country must employ practical rather than theoretical strategies which will make us progressive," he said.
Several workers have lost terminal benefits and back pay following the introduction of multiple currencies. Most Zimbabweans also lost their savings were eroded just before dollarisation.
Since then, Government is yet to come up with a legislative framework to compensate Zimbabweans who lost their money.
Labels: ZDERA, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR
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This is the final proof that the collapse of the Zimbabwean Dollar, the start of hyperinflation in Zimbabwe, occurred in the very same year and time that the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery act of 2001 came into effect and put the Zimbabwean government on a credit freeze. To underline the point, it was the Bush Administration that caused the collapse of the Zimbabwean Dollar.
Finally, I have the data for the Zimbabwean currency. Notice what happens in the year 2002, the year that the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 put the Zimbabwean government on a credit freeze. I have already demonstrated the collapse of the 2001 trade surplus in the year 2002. Case closed. It were the Bush Administration sanctions.
UPDATE 28/03/2012: Correction - George W. Bush signed ZDERA into law on December 21st, 2001, not December 31st 2001, as mentioned on the chart.
Notice the SUDDEN collapse of the Zimbabwean Dollar against the US Dollar in the year 2002.
UPDATE
The precise nature of this credit freeze, illegally put on the Zimbabwean government (and people) by the Bush Administration, aided by the African diamond interest driven, corporatist Neo Democrat wing of the Democratic Party - Hillary Clinton, Russ Feingold and Joe Biden:
****
SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY.
(c) MULTILATERAL FINANCING RESTRICTION- ... the Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States executive director to each international financial institution to oppose and vote against--
(1) any extension by the respective institution of any loan, credit, or guarantee to the Government of Zimbabwe; or
(2) any cancellation or reduction of indebtedness owed by the Government of Zimbabwe to the United States or any international financial institution.
****
These are the financial sanctions that put the country of Zimbabwe on a credit freeze in the year 2002, the year the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 came into force.
The banks which are directly mentioned and to which this credit freeze applies:
****
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS- The term `international financial institutions' means the
multilateral development banks and the
International Monetary Fund.
(2) MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS- The term `multilateral development banks' means the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the
International Development Association, the
International Finance Corporation, the
Inter-American Development Bank, the
Asian Development Bank, the
Inter-American Investment Corporation, the
African Development Bank, the
African Development Fund, the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the
Multilateral Investment Guaranty Agency.
****
The effects of this 2002 credit freeze on the trade surplus:
****
Table 1: Zimbabwe - Key economic indicators, 2001–2008
Trade Deficit in million USD (negative deficit is a surplus)
2000* 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
-295.6 -323 18 108 305 388 467
****
Notice the collapse of the 2001 trade surplus in the year 2002.
The Zimbabwe Dollar was deliberately sunk by the Bush Administration, with the help of the MDC, in order to prevent the success of the Fast Track land reform program, and to ready Zimbabwe for a neoliberal takeover by the MDC - privatisation of parasdtatals and mines, deregulation of labour and environmental laws, and free markets for corporate capital - unlimited expatriation of profits and no taxes for corporations.
This is the treasonous role played by the MDC, for which, as the cowards they are, tried to blame President Mugabe and the ZANU-PF.
In the words of Chester Crocker: In order to separate the people of Zimbabwe from the ZANU-PF, we have to make their economy scream, and I hope you senators have the stomach for what you have to do.
In contrast, these are the words of then Democratic congresswoman Cynthia McKinney on the introduction of ZDERA in 2001 on December 4th 2001, 3 weeks before the Act was signed into law by President Bush:
SPEECH OF HON. CYNTHIA A. McKINNEY OF GEORGIA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tuesday, December 4, 2001
* Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, at the international Relations Committee meeting of November 28, 2001, which considered the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001, I asked a question of my colleagues who were vociferously supporting this misdirected piece of legislation: ``Can anyone explain how the people in question who now have the land in question in Zimbabwe got title to the land?''
* My query was met with a deafening silence. Those who knew did not want to admit the truth and those who didn't know should have known--that the land was stolen from its indigenous peoples through the British South Africa Company and any ``titles'' to it were illegal and invalid. Whatever the reason for their silence, the answer to this question is the unspoken but real reason for why the United States Congress is now concentrating its time and resources on squeezing an economically-devastated African state under the hypocritical guise of providing a ``transition to democracy.''
* Zimbabwe is Africa's second-longest stable democracy. It is multi-party. It had elections last year where the opposition, Movement for Democratic Change, won over 50 seats in the parliament. It has an opposition press which vigorously criticizes the government and governing party. It has an independent judiciary which issues decisions contrary to the wishes of the governing party. Zimbabwe is not without troubles, but neither is the United States. I have not heard anyone proposing a United States Democracy Act following last year's Presidential electoral debacle. And if a foreign country were to pass legislation calling for a United States Democracy Act which provided funding for United States opposition parties under the fig leaf of ``Voter Education,'' this body and this country would not stand for it.
* There are many de jure and de facto one-party states in the world which are the recipients of support of the United States government. They are not the subject of Congressional legislative sanctions. To any honest observer, Zimbabwe's sin is that it has taken the position to right a wrong, whose resolution has been too long overdue--to return its land to its people. The Zimbabwean government has said that a situation where 2 percent of the population owns 85 percent of the best land is untenable. Those who presently own more than one farm will no longer be able to do so.
* When we get right down to it, this legislation is nothing more than a formal declaration of United States complicity in a program to maintain white-skin privilege. We can call it an ``incentives'' bill, but that does not change its essential ``sanctions'' nature. It is racist and against the interests of the masses of Zimbabweans. In the long-run the Zimbabwe Democracy Act will work against the United States having a mutually beneficial relationship with Africa.
Labels: GEORGE BUSH, NEOCOLONIALISM, SANCTIONS, ZDERA, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR
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Zimbabwe dollar not returning soon: Gono
by
30/11/2009 00:00:00
RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono says the country will not put the local dollar back into circulation anytime soon as the economy must first achieve growth rates of at least seven percent.
"For the avoidance of doubt and market uncertainty, it is hereby clarified that the re-introduction of the Zimbabwe dollar will only be contemplated when certain fundamentals have been achieved," the central bank governor, Gideon Gono, was quoted as saying by the Herald.
Gono said Zimbabwe will continue using the US dollar and other hard currencies introduced at the beginning of the year until the economy has reached annual growth rates of at "least seven percent" with foreign currency reserves of at least US 1.5 billion dollars.
"It is therefore imperative that the market players and stakeholders in all the sectors of the economy optimise their trading and productive systems to be in line with the current multiple system, as the country will be under the system for the foreseeable future," Gono said.
President Robert Mugabe and Gono earlier this year had said the Zimbabwe dollar might return into circulation. Mugabe said ordinary people who are stuck in poverty were unable to access the US dollar in a country where unemployment levels were over 90 percent.
But Finance Minister Tendai Biti said the country will only return to the local unit once the economy has stabilised and there is production in all the sectors of the economy.
Zimbabwe's battered economy stabilised when rivals Mugabe and Tsvangirai formed the unity government in February.
Biti this year projected that Zimbabwe's economy will grow by an average of 3.7 percent. - AFP
Labels: GIDEON GONO, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR
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Zim dollar back by year end: President Mugabe
Ralph Mutema
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:02:00 +0000
THE Zimbabwe dollar, abandoned in March this year, will be back in circulation by year-end, President Robert Mugabe has said. Harare abandoned its dollar six months ago inorder to curb hyperinflation.
President Mugabe said multiple foreign currencies that replaced the local dollar were unavailable to Zimbabweans, thereby spiking deep poverty.
"The use of multiple currencies is not helping our people much as the money is difficult to secure," the president said while addressing villagers in Zhombe, in the Midlands province.
He added: "We will be reintroducing our own currency by end of the year. People are failing to board buses.
"This needs to be redressed. I do not hope to face similar problems next year. We would have failed as leaders if that is allowed to happen."
Finance minister Tendai Biti, from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T), has threatened to quit if forced to bring back the local dollar.
Labels: MUGABE, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR
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Gono didn’t destroy Zimdollar, economy
I. Mukucha
EDITOR — The letter by Bayai Phiri (The Herald, August 26, 2009) cannot go unchallenged. First of all, it must be clarified that Dr Gono did not call for a reckless return to uncontrolled printing of the Zimdollar; this is why he advocated that money supply must be linked to and controlled by tangibles such as mineral wealth.
Furthermore, he proposed that instead of having just the RBZ alone, transparency must be ensured by bringing in independent bodies and individuals. Bringing back the Zimdollar does not mean banning the other currencies because it would be co-circulating with the rest.
Secondly, I implore Zimbabweans not to fall into the Western propaganda trap that would have us believe that Dr Gono single-handedly destroyed the dollar and the economy.
In fact, what happened with the economy in the past, especially last year, clearly showed that there were other dark forces at play.
For example, what really led to such rampant speculative behaviour?
Who/what led to the "burning" phenomenon, or the rogue performance by the ZSE?
What about those who promised to make our economy "scream" with sanctions?
And what did they mean by that?
Thirdly, it’s crucial that we be very frank with ourselves.
What we are deluding ourselves with as economic stability/recovery is unfortunately hinged on CONSUMPTION.
Yes, as Phiri correctly points out, "in supermarkets we mainly see imported products", but the reality is that most of the money we spend in the various shops mushrooming all over the place ends up in South Africa, Botswana, etc for restocking.
Meanwhile, our own industry, which should underpin true economic recovery, remains very depressed. Apart from retail, all other sectors like agriculture, banking, manufacturing, etc are groaning.
Finally, it’s simply not true, as Phiri tries to convince us, that "teachers, nurses, doctors, cleaners, etc, are better off now . . ."
If that were so, why the spate of strikes and general disgruntlement among the workforce?
Again, Phiri is not correct when he alleges that forex is "freely flowing to Zimra, RBZ and the banks".
The cold, naked truth is that banks have actually retrenched staff and are basically not offering loans because the market is illiquid. If Zimra, the main revenue collection arm of Government were awash with money then civil servants would get decent salaries.
I. Mukucha.
Bulawayo.
Labels: COLOUR REVOLUTIONS, GIDEON GONO, NEOCOLONIALISM, SANCTIONS, ZDERA, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR
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Zimdollar: Let’s not put cart before horse
EDITOR — I welcome the decision by the Reserve Bank Governor Dr Gideon Gono to debate the idea of re-introducing the Zimbabwe dollar. I am against the reintroduction of the local currency at this stage after the economy has stabilised by the use of multiple currency.
The governor has suggested the linking of the Zimdollar to gold and other minerals. The name itself "Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe" implies that the central bank is different from other commercial or merchant banks because the reserve bank of any country should have "reserves", which are assets in gold and foreign currency a country keeps to prop up its currency.
I cannot remember a time when the governor ever revealed how much the country has in its reserves.
Zimbabwe used to produce at least 39 tons of gold per year by 1999, but this has gone down to about two tons a year. Why did we not keep the gold in RBZ coffers to support our currency?
Now that we do not have the gold, any suggestion that we support a new currency from the few ounces we have does not make sense.
I agree with Dr Gono that any currency must be supported by increased production of goods and the country needs gold and foreign currency reserves for it to be creditworthy if it wants to borrow money for its development. The reason being that of convincing the lenders that we will be able to pay back or what is referred to as having collateral.
The central bank governor had all the opportunity to articulate this fundamental concept of economics when the times were good.
At present, we have to continue to use the US dollar until a common currency is introduced by Sadc in 2012 as promised.
If we re-introduced the Zimdollar, we would go back to printing money to buy the US dollar with its black market consequences.
Let the people take time to produce goods to sell to obtain the US dollar and Government to collect taxes from increased economic activity to pay civil servants and meet its recurrent expenditure.
Let us be patient and methodical in building our economy. Rome was not built in one day.
Albert Nhamoyebonde.
Harare.
Labels: GIDEON GONO, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR
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Gono makes new Zim dollar pitch
by Daniel Misi
18/08/2009 00:00:00
ZIMBABWE’S Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono has proposed the re-introduction of the Zimbabwe dollar anchored on gold valued by an independent body.
The Zimbabwe dollar is officially dead, having been killed off in hopes of curbing record world inflation of billions of percentage points. It was replaced with the United States dollar and the South African rand.
But Zimbabwe has not formally dolarised or randified the economy.
Gono, whose policy of printing money to fund social services and government spending was blamed for fuelling inflation, told MPs on Monday that the unavailability of change of small denominations and coins will persist until the local currency was revived.
"Nobody can move me from that conviction,” Gono told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Natural Resources, Hospitality and Tourism. “We anchor our Zim dollar to the gold available. It will not only be RBZ, but all stakeholders.
“A certificate will then be issued to the RBZ on the amount of Zim dollar to be printed after the committee has satisfied itself on the value of the gold.
"You can also redeem your Zim dollar in return for an ounce of gold. Say, if you want to keep gold not cash, you can go to your bank and get an equivalent of ounces of gold to the Zim dollar you have, so we will be backing our money with reality on the ground. Such an approach is not inflationary because you are anchoring your money on productivity.
"We can even print gold coins. The Zim dollar can then gain as it is anchored on gold. We need to think outside the box.”
The fate of the Zimbabwe dollar has become a contested political issue, with President Robert Mugabe and Gono leading the calls for the currency to be put back in circulation as legal tender.
Mugabe complains that most Zimbabweans lack the hard currency needed to buy basic goods.
But Finance Minister Tendai Biti, who joined the government as part of a power-sharing agreement between his Movement for Democratic Change and Mugabe's Zanu PF party, has declared the local dollar indefinitely obsolete.
He has threatened to quit if a return to the local currency is forced upon him.
"We are putting the tombstone on the corpse of the Zimbabwe dollar," Biti told lawmakers in a midyear fiscal policy statement. And in another speech to business leaders, he said, "We are no longer printing our own money."
Labels: GIDEON GONO, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR
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Gono recommends reintroduction of Zim dollar
HR.
Tue, 18 Aug 2009 02:56:00 +0000
RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe Governor
Dr Gideon Gono has proposed the
reintroduction of the Zimbabwe dollar anchored on
gold valued by an independent body comprising all stakeholders.
He said the reintroduction of the local currency would help in addressing a number of bottlenecks the country was facing.
Dr Gono said the reintroduction of the local unit in the manner he was proposing would go a long way in addressing unavailability of change of small denominations and coins, among other constraints.
The RBZ chief said this yesterday while giving oral evidence before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Natural Resources, Hospitality and Tourism.
The committee, chaired by Nkayi South Member of the House of Assembly Mr Abednico Bhebhe (MDC-M), wanted to know the financial sector’s preparedness in terms of introducing plastic money ahead of 2010 World Soccer Cup Finals to be held in South Africa.
The committee invited the central bank and the Bankers’ Association of Zimbabwe, led by its president Dr John Mangundya, to update it on progress.
During yesterday’s deliberations, bankers said they had gone a long way with preparations and international credit and debt cards would be ready by end of September this year.
The committee, however, expressed concern at the unavailability of change, especially coins.
In response, Dr Gono proffered an array of advice that included the need for political stability, addressing infrastructural issues like availability of electricity, water, transport network, and the health delivery service system, among others.
"The financial sector might do its homework, but if other players don’t play their part, the country might not benefit anything from the world soccer showcase," said Dr Gono.
He said there was need to reintroduce the Zimbabwe dollar that would be pegged against gold available.
He said those who had criticised his idea were doing so out of ignorance, as they did not understand the gist of his advice.
"Nobody can move me from that conviction. We anchor our Zim dollar to the gold available. It will not only be RBZ, but all stakeholders. A certificate will then be issued to the RBZ on the amount of Zim dollar to be printed after the committee has satisfied itself on the value of the gold," said Dr Gono.
"You can also redeem your Zim dollar in return for an ounce of gold. Say, if you want to keep gold not cash, you can go to your bank and get an equivalent of ounces of gold to the Zim dollar you have, so we will be backing our money with reality on the ground.
Such an approach is not inflationary because you are anchoring your money on productivity."
The central bank chief urged Zimbabweans to be pragmatic by "thinking outside the box".
"We can even print gold coins. The Zim dollar can then gain as it is anchored on gold. We need to think outside the box," he said.
Asked why the country had not formally dollarised or randified, Dr Gono said that would involve a number of legal and economic issues.
He said it was not possible to officially dollarise because the United States had imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe while it would be cumbersome for Zimbabwe to officially use the rand as its currency.
"If we are to randify, we will have to be members of the Common Union with Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland whose economies are anchored with South Africa.
"All our policy and monetary statements would have to be submitted to South Africa for concurrence before we finally pronounce them," said Dr Gono.
Initially, Dr Mangundya had said it was more expensive to import coins because transport costs were determined by weight.
"We will have to pay, say, US$100 000 to import US$10 000 worth of coins," said Dr Mangundya.
Labels: GIDEON GONO, GOLD STANDARD, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR
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Zim banks fight ‘credibility’ crisis
By Walter Muchinguri
THE adoption of the multiple currency system and the subsequent transition from Zimbabwe dollar wages to those in foreign currency has renewed focus on banks. But the credibility of the sector continues to be in serious doubt among most Zimbabweans, who are being forced by circumstances to use the banks.
In most instances, people using banks are employees forced to open bank accounts to receive their salaries. This has led to the banks jostling for the few clients available. The fight for clients has prompted banks to literally "think outside the box" and come up with innovative packages to attract the new and old clientele.
As a result, there have been several packages and services introduced in the market in recent months.
Most banks have even teamed up with external partners to bring in new technology, concepts and services.
TN Financial Bank, the latest entrant into the sector, has introduced a new way of business to bring banking to the client.
The concept, as explained by group chief executive, Mr Tawanda Nyambirai, is premised on the bank’s officials going out to meet the clients, as opposed to the clients coming to do business at the bank’s branches.
"We have banking lounges, as opposed to banking halls, because we only want our clients to visit us for the complicated transaction," he said.
"We prefer to visit our clients to meet their banking needs for we want our clients to concentrate on
their business and generate more money, while we handle their banking needs, because that is what we do best."
Another bank, FBC Bank recently launched a United Kingdom-registered global cash transfer facility called Instant Cash, that seeks to ensure efficiency and speed in the transfer of money from anywhere into the country.
Instant Cash is a state-of-the-art electronic money transfer system that ensures instant payment of cash from point to point, using the Internet as a medium of inexpensive data transfer over a secured and encrypted payment gateway.
The bank said locals could send or receive up to US$7 500 using the new facility as provided in the last Monetary Policy.
Elsewhere, Premier Banking also sought an alliance with South African FNB to have its clients issued with travellers’ cheques in South Africa after American Express withdrew its services from the country last year.
The bank was also the first to enable its automated teller machines (ATMs) to dispense foreign currency.
In addition most banks have been reintroducing the Point-of-Sale facility in response to growing calls for a reduction in cash transactions in favour of plastic money.
Kingdom Bank has gone a step further — offering cash-back facilities in supermarkets it offers POS machines.
In the Mid-year Monetary Policy Statement, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, in promoting electronic means of payment, collaborated with the banking industry and other stakeholders to ensure inter-operability of cards on the local switching platform (Zimswitch).
"All card issuing financial institutions have since become members of Zimswitch," the RBZ said.
"However, while a significant number of banks have become active on the platform, a few banks are still finalising the required technical modalities.
"In addition, the central bank is encouraging financial institutions and other relevant players to promote the spread and use of POS devices throughout the country.
"It is envisaged that the use of cards will relieve pressure on change and the demand for cash which has to be imported from outside the country."
In addition, the central bank also announced that it had engaged Visa International on international cards.
The card company had given the RBZ a firm commitment to work with the local banking community to ensure a return of the Visa platform that enables international visitors to spend their money in Zimbabwe.
Analysts believe the various services and packages introduced so far "are a good development for the country".
"Everywhere in the world, banks are the epitome of trust," said a local analyst.
"In Zimbabwe, there is no trust in the sector, and these facilities would help restore confidence in the banks, because Zimbabweans, by their nature, are a progressive people, who respond to changes in technologies and services.
"In addition competition lowers charges. So, it also works in attracting clients to re-invest in the sector."
Another analyst said the introduction of new services would help boost employment levels.
"There are a lot of bank employees going on forced leave and the introduction of new services would help attract some of that manpower, as more business comes through," he said.
Labels: BANKING, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR
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