<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/robert-rotberg-171817">By Robert Rotberg</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/harvard-university-1306">Harvard University</a>
When President Emmerson Mnangagwa <a href="https://theconversation.com/zimbabwes-first-mugabe-free-election-mnangagwa-promises-western-cash-but-little-else-99228">campaigned</a> in July for Zimbabwe’s presidency, he promised to be a business friendly leader, and to return his country’s economy to twentieth century times of plenty and prosperity.
But Mnangagwa has already shown himself incapable of jettisoning the state centrist, rent-seeking predilections of his predecessor. A “big-bang” sharp break with Zimbabwe’s recent past is essential to reassure consumers and capitalists. Yet Mnangagwa and his cronies have so far rejected anything forward-looking and sensible.
Mnangagwa’s administration is struggling to overcome the national <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/shops-shut-doors-as-zimbabwe-financial-crisis-deepens-17414862">economic destruction</a> wreaked on Zimbabwe over two decades under Robert Mugabe. This included profligate spending, immense debt pileup, colossal corruption, and ravaging of the country’s once immensely productive agricultural sector.
As a result, Zimbabwe now lacks foreign exchange with which to buy petrol and ordinary goods to stock the shelves of its supermarkets. In the last few weeks many shops – such as Edgars, a long-time clothing store; Teta, an eatery; KFC, a fast food outlet – have simply <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/shops-shut-doors-as-zimbabwe-financial-crisis-deepens-17414862">shut their doors</a>. Queues for petrol stretch for miles.
<a href="http://nehandaradio.com/2018/10/13/zimbabwe-currency-crisis-no-cash-no-bread-no-kfc/">Banks have no US dollars</a>, or South African rands or Botswana pulas (the notional national currency), and therefore cannot supply stores or customers with the funds to carry on business as usual.
The locally created <a href="https://zwnews.com/latest-us-dollar-zimbabwe-bond-note-trgs-exchange-rates-today-9-october-2018/">Zimbabwe bond note</a> which is officially supposed to trade 1 to 1 with the US dollar, has been trading as high as 10 to 1 on the Harare black market according to unconfirmed local shopping experiences. In its October 20th edition The Economist reported that the bond note, known unofficial as <a href="https://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/zimbabwes-bond-notes-being-traded-outside-borders-report-20170516">the zollar</a>, was trading for as little as 17 cents, or roughly 6-1.
The new administration has naturally resorted to <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/international/zimbabwes-currency-crisis-shows-little-sign-of-abating-17052960">printing</a> its own faux money. That inevitably has led, as always, to hyperinflation and monetary collapse.
China may yet help Mnangagwa – but in exchange for multi-years worth of precious minerals and Virginia tobacco at discounted prices. With Zimbabwe’s leadership so thoroughly tainted by decades of peculation and mendacity, and devoid of any real notion of “the public interest,” Mnangagwa’s regime is otherwise unlikely to clean up the prevailing fiscal mess because of its refusal to break sharply with the fiscal derring-do of the Mugabe era. Its principals continue to profit from Zimbabwe’s economic mayhem.
<h2>What went wrong</h2>
Zimbabwe’s economic weaknesses are unsustainable. Governments in such parlous straits would turn, even now, to the International Monetary Fund, for a bailout – as <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2168507/pakistans-khan-slams-imf-then-seeks-bailout-why-change">Pakistan</a> has just done. But Zimbabwe is already in arrears to the international lending institutions and has very few helpful friends left.
Government is running a hefty overdraft. And it’s been unable to collect as much as it needs from the national tax base. Its now attempting to impose a <a href="https://www.fin24.com/Economy/Africa/zimbabwe-slaps-catastrophic-tax-on-electronic-transactions-20181001">2% tax </a> on internal electronic financial transactions. This only shows desperation. If implemented, it could yield twice as much revenue as is derived annually from VAT. But that losing manoeuvre has already helped drive commerce underground. It has also undermined what little confidence consumers and financiers have in their current rulers.
The Mnangagwa government has also reimposed import and <a href="http://businessdaily.co.zw/index-id-national-zk-38015.html">exchange controls</a>, thus creating additional incentives to avoid regular channels of commerce. Those controls also permit officials to allocate “scarce” resources and licenses to import, export, and so on. These are well-known occasions for corruption and for giving rent-seeking opportunities to cronies.
It wasn’t always this bad. Despite the massive loss of formal employment that occurred under Mugabe, the informal sector flourished and Zimbabwe’s poor probably benefited. This was partly because under the unity government of 2009-2013, when Tendai Biti of the Movement for Democratic Change was finance minister, there were no such controls and there were plenty of US dollars and no questionable bond notes and Treasury bills. Hard currency (the US dollar) permitted Zimbabwe to start growing economically after the long Mugabe slide, and individuals and businesses to prosper. The country ran a budgetary surplus.
But this all came to an end when the government of national unity <a href="https://pindula.co.zw/Government_of_National_Unity">collapsed</a> in 2012.
<h2>What needs to happen</h2>
To begin to restore the economy, the government needs to acknowledge corrupt dealings and repatriate the huge amounts of cash that have fled the country as laundered money.
The regime could also try to take <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/17/robert-grace-mugabe-missing-millions-money-zimababwe">ill-gotten gains</a> away from Mugabe and Grace Mugabe, as <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2018/0703/Former-Malaysian-leader-arrested-for-theft-money-laundering">Malaysia’s new government</a> is doing to its previous kleptocratic prime minister and his wife.
Gestures in that direction would help to begin to restore confidence, a step towards eventual prosperity. So would promises to restore the rule of law. Investors might also return if a sound currency was likely. But that would only follow shedding of ministers, civil service layoffs, military reductions, and many other indications that Mnangagwa and his minister of finance were serious about reducing the debt hangover.
Cutting some sort of deal with the IMF would also be worthwhile, but that could mean giving control over the Treasury to foreign advisors. Zimbabwe is and, since Biti’s day, has been, a basket case. It’s time to acknowledge that fiscal reality and to do something about it.<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104960/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/robert-rotberg-171817">Robert Rotberg</a>, Founding Director of Program on Intrastate Conflict, Kennedy School, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/harvard-university-1306">Harvard University</a>
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/zimbabwes-economy-is-collapsing-why-mnangagwa-doesnt-have-the-answers-104960">original article</a>.

Why Mnangagwa doesn’t have the answers to Zimbabwe’s troubled economy

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe’s new Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube may scrap the quasi currency bond note and liberalise exchange controls as part of reforms he plans to implement by end of this year, a state-owned weekly newspaper reported on Sunday.
The southern African nation, which dumped its currency in favour of the U.S. dollar in 2009 following years of hyperinflation, introduced bond notes in November 2016 in a bid to ease acute shortages of cash. The shortages have, however worsened while a black market continues to thrive.
The notes are backed by U.S. dollars loaned to the government by the African Export and Import Bank, and can be used like cash.
Officially, they are pegged to the dollar at a rate of 1:1, but on the street $1 fetches up to 1.50 in bond notes.
“I am very clear that there have to be currency reforms and the current currency approach is not working,” Ncube told the government-owned Sunday Mail.
He said he would explore three options: either Zimbabwe joins the South African rand union; uses only the U.S. dollar while removing bond notes from circulation, or reintroduces the Zimbabwean dollar.
Ncube however said a local currency would only be introduced when the country has enough foreign reserves and achieves macro-economic stability. Zimbabwe currently has two weeks import cover, according to central bank data.
Ncube, a former senior executive with the African Development Bank, was appointed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday and is expected to lead Zimbabwe’s economic recovery programme.
He was not immediately available to comment when Reuters tried to contact him.
A dwindling supply of cash dollars has led to banks limiting daily withdrawals to as little as $30 in bond notes. Companies are struggling to pay for imports and foreign investors cannot repatriate dividends or profits.
There are $350 million worth of bond notes in circulation, according to latest central bank figures.
Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Kirsten Donovan

Zimbabwe’s new finance minister considering scrapping bond notes, what you need to know…

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According to Finance and Economic Planning Minister Patrick Chinamasa, the consensus in Government is that bond notes have largely served their purpose and are “not tenable” within the context of Zimbabwe’s new economic growth trajectory.

Limbo over Zimbabwe scraping bond notes

Zimbabwe is more than doubling its issuance of &#8220;bond notes&#8221;, a domestic quasi-currency, to $500 million, its central bank governor said on Wednesday, stoking fears of a slide towards the rampant money-printing and hyperinflation of a decade ago.
Harare has used U.S. dollars and South African rand since 2009, after the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) printed so many Zimbabwe dollars that inflation hit 500 billion percent, rendering the notes worthless.
But a dwindling supply of cash dollars has led to banks limiting daily withdrawals to as little as $50. Companies are struggling to pay for imports and foreign investors cannot repatriate dividends or profits.
The RBZ introduced the bond notes in November, initially printing $200 million worth, as an antidote to the cash shortages. On Wednesday, RBZ governor John Mangudya said the bank would inject an additional $300 million into circulation.
The bond notes have been trading at a discount to their official 1:1 face value to the dollar since they were launched but have not collapsed in value as some had feared, largely because they too have been in scarce supply.
Injecting more liquidity risks undermining that rarity value. &#8220;If the scarcity goes away, it&#8217;s a threat to that value,&#8221; Harare-based independent economist John Robertson said.
To try to allay the fears of Zimbabweans terrified of a back-door return to the Zimbabwe dollar, Mangudya said foreign currencies would remain in use until the southern African nation&#8217;s moribund economy picks up.
This included having reserves equal to one year&#8217;s import cover, a sustainable budget and &#8220;right&#8221; consumer and business confidence, he told a news conference.
&#8220;The multi-currency system is here to stay up until the fundamentals of our own currency have been achieved,&#8221; the central bank governor said.
Nearly everything in Zimbabwe is priced in U.S. dollars, although the absence of cash means nearly all transactions, including payment of state wages, are electronic, either via domestic payment cards or mobile phones.
Mangudya said Harare was negotiating with the Cairo-based Afreximbank to underpin the $300 million bond note issuance. The development bank, which is partially owned by the RBZ, issued a guarantee for the first $200 million, according to the RBZ.
Afreximbank has refused to confirm this and the terms of the guarantee have not been published. It has declined to comment on Mangudya&#8217;s desire to increase bond note issuance.
Mangudya said that at the end of June local banks were holding $75 million owed to foreigners who have invested in the stock market, and that the central bank would set up a portfolio fund to help them repatriate dividends and profits.
&#8220;The fund is essential to re-establish confidence on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange by demonstrating that there is a pathway for foreign investors to realise their gains,&#8221; Mangudya said.
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Additional reporting and editing by Ed Cropley and Catherine Evans.
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Zimbabwe central bank warms up ‘bond note’ printing presses

MacDonald Dzirutwe | HARARE
Zimbabwe&#8217;s &#8220;bond note&#8221; surrogate currency will not solve its economic problems, the International Monetary Fund said, adding that only comprehensive reforms would address a fiscal crisis.
The southern African nation last year introduced bond notes, which officially trade at par with the U.S. dollar and are backed by a $200 million bond from the African Export and Import Bank.
http://cnbc.africa/news/2016/11/01/mugabe-decrees-regulations-paving-way-for-bond-notes/
The director of the IMF&#8217;s Africa department, Abebe Aemro Selassie, told reporters in Washington on Sunday that limited foreign exchange inflows and a lack of monetary policy tools since Zimbabwe&#8217;s adoption of the U.S. dollar in 2009 had worsened cash shortages.
&#8220;We think that, going down this one (bond) note route, in and of itself, will not address the challenges that the country has,&#8221; Selassie said, according to a transcript of the media briefing.
&#8220;So, it&#8217;s very important to have a more comprehensive policy package which also addresses a lot of the fiscal challenges that the country faces, a lot of the structural reforms that have to be done.&#8221;
The central bank says it has so far printed $121 million in bond notes but a high demand for cash has meant that the surrogate currency is also in short supply.
Importers, including mining companies and manufacturers, say they are facing serious delays in paying for imports because banks have no dollars to make the payments.
&#8220;So, it&#8217;s, again, more of a holistic package of reforms that are required to get Zimbabwe out of the place it&#8217;s in right now,&#8221; Selassie said.
(Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Andrew Roche)

IMF says bond note cannot solve Zimbabwe’s economic problems

Zimbabwe has started circulating a $5 &#8220;bond note&#8221;, the central bank said on Friday, as President Robert Mugabe&#8217;s government struggles with a cash crunch that has forced people to spend hours at banks queuing for money.
The southern African nation introduced a $2 note and $1 coin last November to ease the cash shortages. Despite warnings that it could eventually cause hyperinflation, the &#8220;bond note&#8221; currency is still trading at par with the U.S. dollar.
Zimbabwe has started circulating a $5 &#8220;bond note&#8221;, the central bank said on Friday, as President Robert Mugabe&#8217;s government struggles with a cash crunch that has forced people to spend hours at banks queuing for money.﻿. He said $15 million of the new notes had been released, bringing the total amount of bond notes in circulation to $88 million.
Zimbabwe abandoned its own hyperinflation-hit currency in 2009 in favour of the U.S. dollar, but a widening trade deficit, lack of foreign investment and a decline in remittances by Zimbabweans abroad have helped to fuel foreign currency shortages.
Some businesses, especially those importing goods, are now offering discounts on cash purchases in U.S. dollars, while charging more for mobile or card transactions.
Importers defend the practice, saying they are struggling to pay for goods abroad because accounts held by local banks overseas have been depleted of foreign currency.
Some banks have also drastically cut daily online purchases and cash withdrawals for foreign travellers from $1000 a day to as little as $50.﻿

Zimbabwe introduces new bond note as cash shortages bite

Zimbabwe expects its 2016 fiscal budget deficit to widen to $1.18 billion, nearly eight times more than it forecast a year ago, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said in a budget speech on Thursday.
Chinamasa had pencilled in a deficit of $150 million in November 2016, equivalent to 1.1 percent of GDP, and said it would be financed via domestic borrowing.﻿
Zimbabwe halves 2016 growth forecast, budget deficit widens﻿﻿
Zimbabwe&#8217;s economy will grow by 0.6 percent in 2016, half the previous forecast, but will recover next year, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said in a budget speech on Thursday.
Chinamasa said the budget deficit for the 2017 fiscal year was estimated at $400 million, equivalent to 3 percent of GDP, up from 1.1 percent in this year.
The southern African nation is grappling with a devastating drought that has left more than 4 million people facing hunger, while the worst financial crisis in seven years has fuelled some of the biggest anti-government protests in a decade.﻿

Zimbabwe sees 2016 budget deficit nearly 800 pct higher than forecast

Zimbabwean riot police used water cannon on Wednesday to scatter 20 activists protesting at the introduction of &#8220;bond notes&#8221;, a new domestic currency they say could touch off uncontrolled money printing and a return to hyperinflation.
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The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe launched the notes on Monday with the goal of easing chronic cash shortages and supplement the dwindling U.S. dollars in circulation. Intelligence briefings seen by Reuters said if the notes&#8217; value crashed, President Robert Mugabe&#8217;s 36-year grip on power could unravel.
In Harare, 20 youths from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) tried to march through the streets waving placards saying &#8220;No to Bond Mugabe&#8221; and &#8220;No to fake money&#8221;, but were met by a phalanx of riot police.
Water cannon salvoes ensued, quickly dispersing the demonstrators. No arrests were reported.
Having failed to stop the launch of the bond notes, which many Zimbabweans fear will erode U.S. dollar savings, some people have tried to undermine the physical integrity of the $2 notes and $1 coins.
Mobile phone videos have circulated online of people rubbing the bright green $2 bond note against a sheet of white paper to leave a green smudge that they say demonstrates the poor quality of the ink and printing.
A Reuters experiment with a note also left green smears.
Critics in Zimbabwe&#8217;s small but vibrant social media community have pounced on the smudges as symbolic of the real value of the &#8220;bollars&#8221;. They are officially exchangeable at 1:1 to the U.S. dollar but many people believe they will quickly start to depreciate.
&#8220;We are currently witnessing one of the biggest scams in history &#8230; Who just prints paper and determines its value?&#8221; tweeted ClaudeJrK. 
The Reserve Bank has asked the public to report people who deface, disfigure or illegally exchange the bond notes.
Although it hopes the bond notes will ease shortages of cash, bank queues lengthened on Wednesday as workers and government employees sought to withdraw monthly salaries.
At independence from Britain in 1980, Zimbabwe was regarded as one of Africa&#8217;s most promising prospects. But its economy has nearly halved since 2000 after the violent seizure of white-owned commercial farms and disastrous printing of money.
 
(Editing by Ed Cropley/Mark Heinrich)﻿

Water cannon soaks Zimbabwean "fake money" protest

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HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe launched a &#8220;bond notes&#8221; currency which held its value against the U.S. dollar on Monday, despite warnings that it could cause hyperinflation and suggestions it could bring down President Robert Mugabe.
The bright green bond notes, introduced by the southern African nation&#8217;s central bank to try to ease a shortage of dollars, were accepted by most businesses and black market traders.
At the Road Port bus station in the capital Harare, an informal foreign currency market, traders said the $2 bond notes were trading, as planned by the central bank, at 1:1 with the dollar.
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<div class="teads-ui-components-label">That will provide some relief for Mugabe as many Zimbabweans fear the bond notes will quickly lose value and some have staged protests. Internal intelligence briefings seen by Reuters also raise the possibility that the bond notes, if they crash, could spell the end of the 92-year-old leader&#8217;s 36-year rule. [nL8N1DP34W]</div>
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Undeterred by a heavy downpour, illegal currency dealers swarmed round a Reuters correspondent&#8217;s car offering to exchange bond notes for South Africa&#8217;s rand or U.S. dollars, Zimbabwe&#8217;s currencies since the local dollar was scrapped in 2009 during a battle against hyperinflation.
&#8220;For now it is the same rate whether it&#8217;s bond or U.S. dollar, my brother. We will see in the next few days whether it changes,&#8221; said Tatenda, a currency tout who declined to give his surname.
His business card, which gave only his first name and mobile number, summed up the lot of most of Zimbabwe&#8217;s 13 million people since the multi-billion percent inflation of eight years ago wiped out the nation&#8217;s savings.
&#8220;Hustlers for life, if you can&#8217;t beat them, join them,&#8221; the card read. &#8220;Money don&#8217;t change us, but we are money changers.&#8221;
Formal businesses were told they had to accept the notes as legal tender. Most did so though Zimbabweans circulated one cellphone video clip of a teller at South African supermarket chain Pick n Pay refusing to accept a $2 bond note.
There was no immediate comment from the company.
 
&#8220;ILL-CONCEIVED&#8221;
At independence from Britain in 1980, Zimbabwe was regarded as one of Africa&#8217;s most promising prospects. But its economy has nearly halved since 2000 after the violent seizure of white-owned commercial farms and disastrous printing of money.
The secrecy of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) around the release of the notes, including its failure to publish security features or say where they are being printed, has heightened fears it will print more than a stated $200 million issuance limit.
On Sunday, before the notes were introduced, pictures of them were already circulating on social media.
The RBZ first announced plans to introduce the bond notes in May to address the chronic cash shortages and supplement the dwindling U.S. dollars that have been in circulation for the past seven years. [nL8N1DP34W]
However, the announcement was followed by a run on the banks as Zimbabweans tried to empty their accounts of hard currency.
&#8220;People are sceptical because of what happened to our old currency in the past when the money lost its value. That is why they think it could happen again,&#8221; said 36-year-old street hawker Tennison Tigere, after withdrawing $50 of bond notes.
On Monday, Prosper Mkwananzi, spokesman of social media movement #Tajamuka, which has organised some of the protests against Mugabe, was arrested while speaking to journalists about the bond notes.
&#8220;We believe that it is ill-conceived and will not resolve the crisis in the country. It is actually daylight robbery,&#8221; said Mkwananzi, before being whisked away by a dozen anti-riot police at an open space in central Harare.
Even if they do not depreciate in value, many economists say the bond notes will serve only as a sticking plaster for an economy with a $250 million-per-month trade deficit.
In addition to weak exports, Zimbabwe has had to deal with a devastating drought that has left millions facing hunger and boosted the need for food imports.
Zimbabwe is $1.6 billion in arrears to the World Bank and African Development Bank, outstanding debt that prevents Harare from securing any extra financing from the two institutions or the International Monetary Fund.
 
(Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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© Thomson Reuters 2016 All rights reserved﻿

Zimbabwe launches "bond notes"

Zimbabwean human rights lawyers asked the High Court on Tuesday to strike down a decree by President Robert Mugabe allowing the introduction of &#8220;bond notes&#8221;, which have raised fears of a return to a local currency.
Mugabe used his presidential powers on Oct. 31 to amend the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act, designating bond notes as legal tender that will be equivalent to the U.S. dollar.
Zimbabwe scrapped its own currency in 2009 after inflation hit 500 billion percent, wiping out savings.
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The central bank says bond notes are meant to ease crippling cash shortages, but this is stoking concerns it could open the door to rampant printing of cash, as happened in 2008.
In a court application, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights {ZLHR) asked the court to set aside Mugabe&#8217;s decree arguing that the veteran leader had no authority to do so.
ZLHR lawyer Dzimbahwe Chimbga said presidential powers were only used in emergencies and the bond notes law was not an emergency since the government first announced their introduction in May this year.
&#8220;He usurped the powers of parliament by making himself the lawmaker and in any event the Presidential Powers Act does not allow him to act in a manner that he did,&#8221; Chimbga said.
The High Court is expected to hear the case this week.
Zimbabwean banks are limiting daily withdrawals to between $40 and $100 due to cash shortages, which has also seen some firms struggle to repatriate dividends and pay foreign debts.
Memories are still fresh of the hyperinflation considered by the International Monetary Fund as the worst for any country not at war.
The crisis led to the release of the 100 trillion dollar Zimbabwean dollar note &#8211; the single largest known bill to be printed by any central bank. Shoppers carried stacks of money in plastic bags as prices changed several times daily.
The introduction of the U.S. dollar as the official currency in 2009 halted the sky-high and accelerating inflation.﻿

Zimbabwean lawyers take Mugabe to court over bond notes

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has side-stepped parliament to issue a decree clearing the way for the introduction of &#8220;bond notes&#8221; that have raised fears of a return to a domestic currency abandoned in 2009 as hyperinflation crippled the economy.
The bond notes are meant to ease biting cash shortages that have gripped the southern African nation since March but have helped fuel anti-government protests in recent months.
Mugabe late on Monday used his presidential powers to amend the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Act, designating bond notes as legal tender that will be equivalent to the U.S. dollar, according to an official government notice.
Mugabe said bond notes, which he has previously called surrogate currency, &#8220;shall be legal tender in all transactions in Zimbabwe&#8221; just like the U.S. dollar, British sterling pound and South African rand, which are also used in the country.
Zimbabwe was this year hit by a devastating drought that left 4 million people in need of food aid. It is facing its worst financial crisis since switching its currency for the U.S. dollar as weak mineral commodity prices hurt its major exports, while formal unemployment remains above 80 percent.
Mugabe&#8217;s decree did not say when bond notes will be introduced. The regulations will last six months, after which parliament has to ratify or reject them.
But former finance minister and opposition leader Tendai Biti said Mugabe&#8217;s decree was illegal and could be challenged in court. He criticised Mugabe for resorting to a decree when parliament, dominated by the ruling ZANU-PF party, could have easily passed the law.
The RBZ first announced plans for bond notes in May.
&#8220;Even if assuming they (regulations) were legal, the presidential powers should only be used in extreme circumstances where there is no sufficient time to go to parliament in the interest of public safety and public good,&#8221; Biti said.
RBZ Governor John Mangudya has struggled to allay concerns of a return to the rampant money printing and inflation rates that peaked at 500 billion percent, by saying bond notes were an incentive for exporters and would not be forced on people.
Mangudya, who has previously said the new bank notes would start circulating early this month, did not answer calls to his mobile phone.
The RBZ on Tuesday started running advertisements in local newspapers and radio saying up to 5 percent incentive would be paid on all exports and diaspora remittances in bond notes.﻿

Zimbabwe&#39;s Mugabe paves way for bond notes

Zimbabwean police on Friday fired teargas and a water cannon to disperse anti-government supporters, who responded by hurling rocks, as a protest against President Robert Mugabe turned violent, a Reuters witness said.
More than a hundred police officers in riot gear, backed up by water cannons and armoured trucks, occupied the venue that opposition parties planned to use for their march.
Mugabe&#8217;s opponents have become emboldened by rising public anger and protests over an economic meltdown, cash shortages and high unemployment. Mugabe, 92, has led Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980.
As opposition supporters arrived for the march, they were told by the police to leave. The officers then fired teargas and a water cannon when parts of the crowd refused to comply, a Reuters witness reported.
A few dozen supporters, who earlier chanted anti-Mugabe slogans, threw rocks at the police and burned tyres on the roadside near the square where the protest was due to start.
&#8220;We are not going anywhere and demonstrating is the only solution left to force the dictator out of office,&#8221; said Tapfuma Make, an unemployed 24-year-old from Chitungwiza town, south of the capital Harare.
Zimbabwe&#8217;s High Court ruled that police should allow the protest to proceed between 12 p.m. &#8211; 4 p.m. (1000-1400 GMT).
&#8220;We view this as a victory for democracy. The demonstration is going ahead,&#8221; MDC secretary general Douglas Mwonzora told reporters following the court&#8217;s decision.
Opposition parties leading the protests say the electoral commission is biased in favour of the ruling ZANU-PF and is run by security agencies loyal to Mugabe, charges the commission denies.
The protesters want the next vote in 2018 to be supervised by international observers, including the United Nations. They are also calling for Mugabe to fire corrupt ministers, scrap plans to introduce local bank notes and end cash shortages.
Opposition leader and head of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai, and former vice president Joice Mujuru will lead the demonstration, which they expect to draw thousands of supporters.
Zimbabwe&#8217;s police used teargas and a water cannon on Wednesday to break-up a march by MDC youth supporters who were protesting over economic mismanagement and what they say is brutality by security agencies.
 
(Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by James Macharia and Toby Chopra)﻿

bond notes

Why Mnangagwa doesn’t have the answers to Zimbabwe’s troubled economy

Zimbabwe’s new finance minister considering scrapping bond notes, what you need to know…

Limbo over Zimbabwe scraping bond notes

Zimbabwe central bank warms up ‘bond note’ printing presses

IMF says bond note cannot solve Zimbabwe’s economic problems

Zimbabwe introduces new bond note as cash shortages bite

Zimbabwe sees 2016 budget deficit nearly 800 pct higher than forecast

Water cannon soaks Zimbabwean "fake money" protest

Zimbabwe launches "bond notes"

Zimbabwean lawyers take Mugabe to court over bond notes

Zimbabwe's Mugabe paves way for bond notes

Anti-Mugabe protest in Zimbabwe turns violent with police clashes

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bond notes

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IMF says bond note cannot solve Zimbabwe’s economic problems

Zimbabwe introduces new bond note as cash shortages bite

Zimbabwe sees 2016 budget deficit nearly 800 pct higher than forecast

Water cannon soaks Zimbabwean "fake money" protest

Zimbabwe launches "bond notes"

Zimbabwean lawyers take Mugabe to court over bond notes

Zimbabwe's Mugabe paves way for bond notes

Anti-Mugabe protest in Zimbabwe turns violent with police clashes

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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