Former cabinet minister, Professor Jonathan Moyo, has sensationally claimed that Bond Note value loss comes on the back of abuse by President Emmerson Mnangagwa and former Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa alleging that the state coffers were drained during the 2017 November military inspired protest as state wage bill was stressed by bonuses among other costs.
Professor Moyo’s rants comes on the back of the government introducing a cocktail of financial reforms among them advising the banks to establish a set of different accounts literal acknowledging that the bond note has officially lost its 1:1 parity with the US Dollar.
Moyo, who is in exile, expressed upbeat when central bank boss Dr John Mangudya introduced the surrogate currency in November 2016 as a stop gap measure designed to address cash shortages as well as an incentive package for exporters ultimately aiming at attracting foreign currency.
“The RBZ’s introduction of the Bond notes in 2016 as 5 percent expert stimulus backed by a US$200 million Afriexim Bank facility was truly an act of genius,” he posted in 2016.
Moyo was then queried on Twitter yesterday by various media personnel and the public to which he implicated President Mnangagwa and Chinamasa as responsible for bond note value loss.
“…Check how Chinamasa abused bond notes, Treasury Bills and Real Time Gross Settlements (RTGs) to fund Mnangagwa’s blue ocean succession plot, command ugly culture, Nov coup bonuses and the stolen election,” he said.
Moyo has been critical of President Mnangagwa before and after the November power transition with his rants at the latter appearing vengeful as he seem to see no good in the new administration.
MDC National deputy chairperson and Harare East law maker Tendai Biti weighed in lambasting Chinamasa describing him as a terrible minister who failed to reign in the ruling party’s insatiable appetite for spending.
“The major cause of Zim’s unacceptable budget deficit which is over 25 % of GDP is fiscal indiscipline and ZANU’s insatiable capacity to spend that which it does not have. Therefore focus should have been on expenditure retrenchment, fiscal discipline & fiscal consolidation,” Biti said.
Biti added: “Chinamasa was terrible but the new lot make Chinamasa look like a genius. We are truly cursed as a nation.”
Biti has been described as one of the best ministers having served as finance minister in the Government of National Unity from 2009 to 2013 and has been credited for stabilizing the economy which fallen into gullies.
However, Chinamasa could not be drawn to comment as his mobile went unanswered.
Chinamasa at one point advised the government about the service wage bill which had gone beyond the reach of the state revenue and proposed to suspend bonuses for civil servants to which the former administration shot down.
The country is grappling with over 16 billion debt to which many questions have been raised on how the state used such a huge amount.
The international financial institutions have since advised the Southern African nation to clear its foreign debt in order to receive a jump start financial aid from World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
