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Bulawayo Bureau

THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) says it has no plans to tamper with depositors’ foreign currency accounts.

RBZ Deputy Governor Dr Kupukile Mlambo told our Bulawayo Bureau yesterday that reports on alleged such plans were coming from criminal elements using the anonymity of social media to cause alarm, fear and despondency in the banking sector.

“The RBZ would like to notify Zimbabweans and the banking community in general that there is no such pronouncement or such plans to raid any nostro accounts by the central bank, or the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.

“Those that have crafted these fake media reports are making use of and quoting an old exchange control order from June 2019, and doing so out of context,” he said.

Dr Mlambo urged Zimbabweans to rely on official channels of communication in the conventional media and on the central bank’s official communication platforms such as the website and its official social media pages.

“We have already issued statements on our Twitter page to notify Zimbabweans of the scam,” he said.

Scores of Zimbabweans active on micro blogging site Twitter flooded the RBZ with questions on the veracity of the messages.

“The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe would like to dismiss the social media reports suggesting that nostro accounts will be raided by the RBZ and Ministry of Finance & Economic Development.

“This assertion should be dismissed with the contempt it deserves. There hasn’t been any change in the operation of nostro accounts,” reads the RBZ statement on Twitter.

Social media reports that circulated over the weekend advised Zimbabweans to clear their nostro accounts as soon as possible as the central bank was planning to clear all nostro accounts and convert them into Zimbabwe dollars at the interbank rate.