Equating a Zimbabwe bond note to the US dollar is like saying a donkey and a cow are the same- MP says

Opposition Member of Parliament and former Harare Mayor Elias Mudzuri says Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa will fill up all the country’s prisons if he starts arresting those with cash because people are desperate for cash and will do anything to get it.

Responding to Chinamasa’s statement on the shortage of cash, Mudzuri said he had long advocated for the separation of bond accounts and US dollar accounts because the two can never be the same.

“You cannot say that a donkey and cow are the same. You cannot equate a bond note to a US$,” he said.

“I did say that there should be a dollar account and a bond note account. There should be several bond notes so that people can use them.

“People do not want to buy a donkey when they can slaughter a cow and eat the meat.”

Chinamasa said the present cash shortage was due to the fact that the government was living beyond its means.

Traders were also not banking their cash and might be forced to do so under a new law that the government is working on.

He also said the government might also be forced to arrest foreigners who had gone into business in what are classified as reserved areas for Zimbabweans.

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