Chinamasa to investigate service stations that demand payment in US dollars

HON. GABBUZA:  The Minister talks of people that are banking money in the formal system, they can apply for it but we have our friends, the Asian community along Chinhoyi street and the Nigerians, all of them are not banking money.  I am sorry to mention the nationalities and countries but that is what is happening.  They do not accept swipes, they will take the cash and throw the bond notes back into the streets to buy the higher denomination at $107 for a single $100 note.  What do we do about those?  Is there a policy to make it obligatory for people, especially businesses to bank money into the formal system so that the cash is available?

HON. CHINAMASA:  I must say that the policy with respect to banking is in place and what might be lacking is enforcement, which is why it is important that these reports are made directly to the Central bank, who can enforce the Banking Use Promotion.  It is against the rules of anti-money laundering for businesses to receive cash and put under the pillow.  The law requires them to bank all the proceeds.  What we need to put in place are enforcement measures to ensure that those you are reporting to us are basically supervised.  Clearly, if Zuva is accepting foreign currency as cash payment, I doubt that they are banking it.  You should report such issues to the Central Bank because there is a department that deals with issues to do with anti-money laundering activities or you can phone the police.  It is also essential to identify those who are breaching the law so that they can be brought to account.

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