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THE Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, National Workers’ Day celebrations and the opening of schools for the second term today have exposed that the cash-flow challenges from the country’s banks and other service institutions, which started a few weeks ago are a reality, which needs urgent attention from all stakeholders.

It also happened during the tobacco selling season where we have thousands of farmers bringing their crop to the auction floors during the first weeks of the selling season.

However, unlike in the past seasons where they received their dues after selling, this season, the industry was regularised and all farmers are expected to get their money through banks.

It was also month-end when people and businesses have to pay their bills in an environment where most people are used to handling hard cash. But the demand for cash has outstripped supply and the result from such a scenario is an assortment of intervention mechanisms, some of which have a long-lasting impact on efforts to turnaround the economy. Queues at banks that had disappeared have since resurfaced, with members of the public spending more than half the day waiting to withdraw money from their salaries and/or deposits from banking halls since some banks have suspended transactions through ATMs. After waiting for long hours, they may not be able to withdraw the desired amounts since some banks continue to put a cap on the maximum that can be withdrawn per day.

Some banks have also suspended the Zimswitch service — a wide area networking service that allows inter-banking. When nearly everyone needs cash: from schools, landlords, service providers etc, there is need to act expeditiously and also think outside the box. Constant communication using various information, communication technology platforms is of paramount importance, in order to allay fears and mistrust in whatever systems are put in place.

Authorities should avoid people from second-guessing them. The mistrust that people had in the banking system, led them to keep cash at home and/or elsewhere and that must be addressed. It is an open secret that those who receive salaries used to withdraw all their money on pay day. What does the future hold, even after the cash flow improves? Our policymakers in various line ministries and the private sector must be alive to this fact.

While calls have been made for people to use “plastic money”, it must be understood that not all people have access to such services. It must also be understood that although some service providers can handle transactions through plastic money, a large number of them are not amenable, for reasons best known to themselves.

We cannot condemn their actions since change is not that easy and they prefer the status quo. Patience and perseverance are the answer. The current shortages will probably move the nation to a cashless society, faster than it thought, in line with international trends.

Zimbabwe already enjoys very high mobile telephone penetration. According to the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe report of January this year, the mobile penetration stood at 92,8 percent during the first quarter of last year. But it should still be borne in mind that more than 70 percent of the population are rural based, or live in areas that require relevant infrastructure, before they can engage in such transactions.

There are also many people in the informal sector, who would need to be convinced that using plastic money is just the same as handling hard cash. But, as the cash challenges continue, Government and the consumers must salute the many supermarkets and other service providers who have been assisting people as much as possible through the cash-back facility.

However, as the demand continued, they also could not cope. A number of them started putting limits and also giving conditions on how they should give out the cash. Stressful times as these also bring with them some social ills: corrupt tendencies. While Government through the Central Bank remains seized with the issue, people hope that a lasting solution to the cash crisis will be found.

The only way is to grow the economy, and this is everyone’s responsibility. While other issues might be important, we should remain cognisant to the fact that the economy needs to be turned around, for every citizen’s benefit. This is a wake-up call, and it is no longer business as usual. Every dollar that is in the country must be accounted for. This means adopting best practices in monetary governance.