Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor Dr John Mangudya said next week the central bank will review upwards bank withdrawal limits that have been pegged at $300 per week for over a year now.
Dr Mangudya revealed this on the sidelines of an interactive meeting convened by the Auxillia Mnangagwa involving monetary and fiscal authorities and female church leaders over the recently introduced Statutory Instrument 142.
The aim of the meeting was to find ways on how the stakeholders can explain the instrument in a manner that benefit the general public.
Statutory Instrument 142 of 2019, effectively ended the multi-currency system and determined the “Zimbabwe dollar” as the sole legal trading currency in the country.
“There has been concerns, because of high inflation, that the $300 per week is no longer sufficient to cater for people’s needs,” he said.
“We are currently reviewing it and maybe next week after we would have gone through reviews with the banks, we can then put that in motion as quickly as possible,” he said.
“The implications of reviewing the withdrawal limit is positive to consumers because after getting your money let’s say $400 or $500, you will now go and buy your products at cheaper prices because they say it’s cheaper to purchase in cash than in RTGS transfers or EcoCash.”
He said it was regrettable that some of the customers ended up abusing the cash they withdrew using it for speculative purposes.
“We are, however, asking people to have self-discipline to ensure that at the end of the day we just use the money for purposes of transacting not for selling it for a premium, he said.
Commenting on the black market of currencies, Dr Mangudya said it was scourge that needed policing.
“What we are saying is that, it is a scourge which needs policing, it needs the force of the police through the Reserve Bank and all the other law enforcements agents.
“There is need to get rid of those people who are selling currency in forex or local dollars in the streets,” he said.
The Governor implored Zimbabweans to bring serial numbers of new notes being sold on the black market to enable the central bank to track the culprits.
“If you find new notes on the streets kindly approach our offices with the serial numbers so that we quickly trace where they came from because as RBZ we have information of all the notes distributed to banks,” he said.
Dr Mangudya urged the public to unite for the development of the country, adding that the country was on a transition to normalcy.
