Zimpapers Logo

Dr Mangudya

WE must commend Reserve Bank Governor John Mangudya for moving with speed to clear the air about the reported existence of fake bond notes on the market. This followed media reports last week quoting Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa warning of the existence of fake bond notes on the market even before the real ones have been printed.

Mangudya said Minister Chinamasa had been quoted out of context as his remarks were referring to the usual suspects on social media who had begun circulating rumours about “types of bond notes”.

Said Dr Mangudya, “I can confirm that the bond notes are still with the printers and delivery has not yet been done. No fake bond notes are in existence in the market, let that be clear.”

In our issue yesterday we carried a story in which the Thabo Mbeki Foundation expressed confidence in Zimbabwe’s ability to resolve its current challenges. It said what was required was a leadership which instilled confidence to unleash the creativity of Zimbabwe’s educated population.

It is public knowledge that confidence and trust are in short supply in the market regarding the matter of bond notes. That is why Mangudya’s clarification about fake bond notes was critical.

Bond notes are an attempt by Zimbabweans to deal with the issue of an acute liquidity crunch in the economy. It is a bold attempt by Zimbabweans to find solutions to local problems by correcting past mistakes. Mangudya has acknowledged for instance that it was a mistake in the first place to use the American dollar as a trading currency in the multi-currency basket since dollarisation in 2009.

It should have reverted to being the reserve currency once the economy stabilised. That mistake has cost the country badly. Zimbabwean products are uncompetitive in the region because of the very strong American dollar. More importantly, people from the region now dump their substandard products in Zimbabwe in exchange for American dollars. This cannot go on forever.

It is for that reason that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe came up with the bond note facility as an incentive for exporters. This should also help alleviate the cash shortage in the economy, with the added advantage that the bond notes can’t be externalised.

There has been resistance and scepticism about what Government intends to do with the bond notes and when they will be launched into circulation. The RBZ only started its education campaign on bond notes last week. There are still no specimen of the bond notes. That is why the “rumour” of fake bond notes would be so unsettling and damaging to Government efforts.

There is a real risk of con artists taking advantage of these delays in the launch of the bond notes to engage in mischief — such as producing their own bond notes. In the absence of information, such fake notes can be used to dupe hungry villagers of their livestock by people purporting to be using the “bond notes”. They say a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.

For some reason, the RBZ and the Ministry of Finance are taking too long putting on their shoes while mischief makers who want to sabotage the bond note initiative are halfway around the globe. Once people are cheated, it would be very difficult indeed to get them to accept the official bond notes when they finally arrive.

Those who initiated the project appear to be sowing seeds of doubt in a public already plagued by scepticism. They can only have themselves to blame in the end, for it does appear to us that the RBZ is trying to convert those with entrenched positions vis-a-vis the bond notes because they have access to hard currencies rather than meeting the needs of those who are desperate for any viable medium of exchange.