MDC calls for scrapping of bond note in proposed alternative to revive Zimbabwe’s economy

Mr. Speaker Sir, I do not have to talk about the humanitarian crisis.  We are in the middle of a devastating cholera outbreak which has taken a toll on lives.  That is a social crisis on top of the economic crisis that I have talked about.  The fuel queues are becoming longer and longer.  In fact, there is a colloquial joke, I must just relax the atmosphere, people say, ndati pfee muqueue yefuel – [Laughter.] – [HON. MEMBERS: Pfee, pfee!] – Mr. Speaker Sir, another joke on the fuel is that most men are now pretending they are now going to the fuel queues to get visas from their houses.  Mr. Speaker Sir, on a serious note, the parallel market exchange rate between the Dollar and a Bond Note, today’s rate is 1:380.  You almost need $400 bond notes to get US$100.  That is distorting the prices and is creating what we call cost-pushing inflation because whoever importers, they source their forex.  If they cannot get it from their Nostro applications, they source it from the parallel market and they just put on the cost on the final retailer.  The existence of a weaker currency in a basket where there is a stronger currency, the US dollar is problematic.  That only requires a policy decision or a policy choice to deal with that.

If you look at the bank queues, they are not easing.  They are growing by the day and people have not yet gotten access to their hard-earned money.  In my respective view Mr. Speaker, a person must have choice to use electronic ….

Hon. Chikwinya having passed between the Chair and the Member on the floor.

THE HON. SPEAKER:  Order, order.  Please, return.  Please continue.

HON. DR. MASHAKADA:  A person must have a choice to use electronic means of payment or to use own cash.  In the United States of America, if they see you holding a US$100 note, they wonder what are you up to.   It is now a culture that has evolved but it is all about choice.  You do not have to carry large sums of money but as a matter of choice, not to say, go to the bank, you want money for kombi or to buy tomatoes or onions on the streets or to buy fruits at Mbare and you cannot get that money.  You are forced to use electronic.  That is not how a normal economy operates.  I have painted this dashboard as I have advised you Mr. Speaker Sir, but in spite of this bad picture, economic dashboard, the Minister of Finance and the Reserve Bank Governor believe that the economy is showing signs of recovering.  Are we living in the same Zimbabwe or some have their own Zimbabwe where they are staying?  I respectfully submit that the situation is not showing signs of recovery, rather the situation is deteriorating by the day.  The economy is not yet on the rebound.

What is the real problem Mr. Speaker Sir?  I think, at times policy bankruptcy can be a liability.  If you have policy inertia, if you dither on policy, these problems will become unabated.  I will give you a good  example, removing a Bond Note does not require money, it requires a bold policy choice, a bold policy decision.  I thought when the new Minister was sworn in, he had stuck the right code when he said, he was going to remove the Bond Note.  Along the way, I do not know what had happened, he has stopped that.  Joining the Rand monetary area, I will explain in detail on the alternatives, it requires a policy decision.  Stopping Government borrowing from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe requires an immediate policy decision to stop the budget deficit.  The stopping issuance of Treasury Bills is a policy decision.  Revenue collection, right now, do you know Mr. Speaker that, uncollected revenue is now $4 billion in the market, almost equal to the Budget.  We need policies to revamp revenue collection measures, tighten your border ports so that there is no smuggling and there is no corruption.

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