1.2 Upon gazetting of the Bill, the Committee on Finance and Economic Development resolved to conduct public consultations on the Bill, consistent with Section 141 of the Constitution. The consultations were held from 29 November to 3 December, 2016, in Gweru, Bulawayo, Gwanda, Lupane, Masvingo, Mutare, Marondera, Harare, Chinhoyi and Bindura. The Bill generated mixed views from the general public. Those who supported the Bill felt that the introduction of the bond notes would ease liquidity challenges and facilitate small local market transactions. There were also dissenting voices but would not substantiate their reasons for opposing the Bill other than expressing expressed fears of losing their savings given their experiences with bearer cheques in 2008. A number of recommendations for improving the Bill were however suggested during the consultations and the proposals will be explained later.
1.3 In terms of the consultations, members of the public queried why Parliament did not conduct the consultations for the proposed introduction of the bond notes much earlier before they were released since Government had expressed its intention sometime in June, 2016. Some even called for the use of bond notes to be subjected to a referendum as a way to ascertain the level of acceptance.
2.0 Submissions from the public
2.1 Members of the public who were in support of the Bill argued that the introduction of the bond notes would address the liquidity challenges that were currently being experienced in the country. The expectation was that bond notes would facilitate small business transactions such as buying of fruits, including wild fruits and vegetables. They further noted that the introduction of bond notes would restrict the use of foreign currency to the financing of critical national imports. Some expressed their gratitude that they would now be able to pay local school fees for their children. To that end, they recommended that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe should speed up the release of bond notes to enable account holders to withdraw their earnings in reasonable amounts to mitigate against bank charges. They also expressed dissatisfaction with the withdrawal limits imposed by banks which resulted in numerous daily transactions. The small withdrawal limits were now eroding their earnings thereby discouraging savings/deposits. It was further proposed that account holders be allowed to withdraw their weekly limits at once to mitigate against unproductive time spent in bank queues.
2.2 Members of the public also noted that the introduction of the bond notes would curb the externalisation of the limited foreign currency given that they are only available for use in Zimbabwe.
2.3 Participants welcomed the introduction of exports incentives as it would avail more money to the productive exporting sectors of the economy, thereby generating more foreign exchange for the country. They however, proposed the following improvements to the Bill:
a) That the Bill should provide for penalties for any conditional acceptance of the bond notes as legal tender.
b) Serious penalties for defacing the bond notes and those who will subject it to the parallel market for profit.
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