Movement for Democratic Change President Nelson Chamisa has called for the removal of bond notes, a move he said is important in restoring confidence in the economy.
Newly appointed Finance and Economic Development minister Professor Mthuli Ncube recently said bond notes were still a legal tender in Zimbabwe, urging the business community to accept the surrogate currency introduced in 2016 to alleviate cash crisis in the country.
Ncube said bond notes would only be scrapped after broader economic reforms have been put in place.
Posting on twitter, Chamisa said the rise in parallel foreign currency rates to 110% was indicative of the absence of confidence in bond notes.
CONCERNED by the dramatic drop of the RTGS & Bond Note against the USD in Zimbabwe.The fall to 110% as experienced earlier today points to serious trouble in the economy. Being the alternative, we insist, confidence must be restored by urgently removing the Bond .#smarteconomics
— nelson chamisa (@nelsonchamisa) September 26, 2018
Responding to Chamisa’s tweet, a number of people have called for economic reforms saying the removal of bond note is not a viable solution to the current situation.
“But sir, the bond is much stronger than the RTGS thing… Any idea what will happen if the bond is removed?? I don’t like the bond, l think it’s not as problematic as the $8 billion bank deposits (RTGS)… Think again,” said Kudzai Mutisi.
“This is what every Tom, Harry & Dick is saying. If we remove bond notes then what? Solution after removing bond notes is smart economics, not just remove bond notes mantra,” Pear Mudzingwa.
“The major problem @nelsonchamisa is the imbalance between the supply of RTGS, bond notes and the real production output.
“The central government through RBZ is creating more bond notes & RTGS than the growth of real output and this reduces the value of both bond notes and RTGS,” said Dr. Ophias Kurauone.
”Advocate, for the love of the nation not part and power can you prove yourself to be smart by advocating for the removal of sanctions, we want investors so that we can produce and export therefore we will be not having trade deficit, also we will be luring foreign currency,” said Fidelis Gwanzura.
Emmanuel Mhetu said “If you have solutions, why don’t you intervene and solve cash crises in Zimbabwe and all economic problems, and from that even people from rural areas will be able to vote for you because you have proved that you are capable of running the country, l love Botswana politics.