Why are Zimbabweans with free funds looking for Zimdollars when they need US dollars to import, Minister asks?

HON. MBONDIAH:  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  My question to the Hon. Deputy Minister is, how far are they with the decentralisation of the auction system which will see that system benefiting cross border traders, particularly women.  Thank you.

THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA):  Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir.  The first question came from Hon. Chinyanganya.  What I can say in terms of the provisions of the SI is we have got what we referred to as designated authorities.  The designated authorities are and shall be determined by the Governor of the Reserve Bank.  So in terms of what is provided for at the moment, we have got officers from the RBZ and officers from the Financial Intelligence Unit as designated authorities who have been…

THE HON. SPEAKER:  Order, please take your seat Hon. Minister.  Hon. Members at the corner there, I think it is Hon. Hamauswa and Hon. Musanhi, you have asked very pertinent questions which devolve on the lives of people in terms of the cost of living, so it is good that you listen carefully to the response by the Minister.

HON. HAMAUSWA:  I apologise for that.

THE HON. SPEAKER:  Thank you.  Apology accepted.

HON. CHIDUWA:  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  I was saying in terms of the SI, at the moment the designated authorities are officers from the RBZ and from the Financial Intelligence Unit, but the SI also provides for the RBZ to designate any other authorities to be able to look into the compliance.  So at the moment when we were doing some discussions we were also looking at roping in ZIMRA and any other authorities shall be determined by the RBZ Governor as and when the need arises.

Then the Hon. Member also said the fine of $50 000 is not enough.  If you checked the civil and administrative penalties as provided we said there is going to be a penalty of $50 000 or whichever is higher depending on the infringement.  The $50 000 is the minimal, so it may actually be far much higher than this depending on the level of infringement.

The next question came from Hon. Nduna.  Thank you so much for the questions Hon. Nduna.  In terms of those who are caught on the wrong side of the law, here we are looking at two issues, the first one being violation of the Exchange Rate Act and the second one being the one of bank use.  So depending on the infringement if I am to take the one for violation of exchange rules for those who are accessing funds from the auction, there is going to be a total ban from participating in the auction in addition to the civil and administrative penalties.  If you had gone through the SI those who are abusing forex that is obtained from the auction markets the minimum is ZWL1 million or whichever is higher depending on the level of infringement, but in addition to that we are also looking at a total ban from participating in the auction market.

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