Raise awareness on bond coins: Experts

18 Jan, 2015 - 00:01 0 Views
Raise awareness on bond coins: Experts

The Sunday Mail

I FEAR FOR ZIM DOLLAR RETURN:  RBZ Governor Dr John Mangudya has ruled out the return of the local currency saying he “personally fears the return of the Zimbabwe dollar”. This comes amid some suspicion that a batch of bond coins to be released this week is part of a scheme to return the local currency, abandoned in 2009 after experiencing a decade of hyperinflation. “There are no fundamentals to bring back the local currency. We have no appetite to do so, and we can’t be careless to do so and we won’t do that. I am a businessman, I also fear the Zim dollar return, why would I want to hurt myself?” asked Dr Mangudya. “The problem is we are our worst critics, the bond coins are just (for) change.”

I FEAR FOR ZIM DOLLAR RETURN:
RBZ Governor Dr John Mangudya has ruled out the return of the local currency saying he “personally fears the return of the Zimbabwe dollar”.
This comes amid some suspicion that a batch of bond coins to be released this week is part of a scheme to return the local currency, abandoned in 2009 after experiencing a decade of hyperinflation.
“There are no fundamentals to bring back the local currency. We have no appetite to do so, and we can’t be careless to do so and we won’t do that. I am a businessman, I also fear the Zim dollar return, why would I want to hurt myself?” asked Dr Mangudya. “The problem is we are our worst critics, the bond coins are just (for) change.”

The Central Bank needs to raise more awareness on bond coins as the recently introduced legal tender is facing mixed reactions from some sections of society, some experts have said.

A member of the Retailers Association of Zimbabwe, Mr Willard Zireva, said retailers registered under their association were accepting the new coins as legal tender and were acceding to Government directive.

He, however, said the majority of consumers were still skeptical about the coins and there was need for Government to educate the masses and raise awareness of the bond coins initiative.

“Retailers that are in our association mainly constitute large retail supermarkets and these adhere to rules and regulations thus they have no problem at all with the introduction of the bond coins,” he said.

“However the problem lies with the target market which is the customers, some small retailers and the informal sector (SMEs), as most of these do not accept bond coins.”

“Some customers actually prefer Rand coins to these newly introduced coins and as a retailer, one cannot force a customer to accept the bond coins when they do not want them. People are still skeptical about them.”

“It is now up to the Central Bank to deal with this situation,” he said.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) unveiled four new coins in December last year in the denominations of 1c, 5c, 10c and 25c, and their value is at par with the commonly used United States dollar.

Zimbabwe has used the multi-currency regime for all transactions since February 2009, when the local currency was discarded.

The US Dollar and South African Rand are the main currencies currently used in a basket that includes the British Pound, the Botswana Pula, the Chinese Yuan, among other currencies.

The introduction of the bonded coins was aimed at solving the problem of change in most shops where customers were being given sweets, matches or ballpoint pens as change when transacting.

Most retailers were also rounding off prices to skirt the problem of change.

Consumer Council of Zimbabwe president, Ms Rosemary Siyachitema, also pointed out that the Government needed to raise awareness on bond coins as some consumers are still sceptical.

“We are yet to do a research on how these coins have been embraced by the public, but cases where some consumers refuse to be given coins when transacting has been reported,” she said.

“For a long time people have been complaining about change and this is the solution that Government has come up with and we urge the consumers to support the initiative.”

“However, there is need for Government to educate consumers, informal traders and commuter omnibus traders about these coins, allow people to get used to them. I am sure people will accept them eventually.”

Greater Harare Association of Commuter Operators chairperson, Mr Ngoni Katsvairo, however, said kombis have started accepting the coins as legal tender and urged the Central Bank to avail more coins as the shortage is making consumers more resistant to the coins.

“We are actually urging our members to take the coins and recognise them as legal tender. However, there is need to educate consumers on these bond coins, as most of them refuse to take them as change,” he said.

“Government should also add more coins into circulation to help people familiarise with these coins,” Mr Katsvairo said.

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