RBZ to enhance forex financial inclusion
INDIVIDUALS will soon be able to buy a minimum of US$50 per week from bureaux de change across the country, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) said as it moved to cater for small value foreign currency needs of ordinary citizens.
The apex bank earlier said when it first announced recommendations of the Monetary Policy Committee on Monday, that charges and commissions levied by bureaux de change would not exceed 10 percent per transaction.
RBZ Governor Dr John Mangudya said in an interview yesterday that the decision was meant to enhance financial inclusion and eliminate the likely criminalisation of excluded citizens who required forex for small value transactions.
He said the arrangement would prevent violation of the law by citizens who use the open market to buy hard currency for external payments and other obligations like fuel purchase in US dollars.
The central bank chief said the general populace required US dollars for pressing needs like paying for medical procedures, drugs and medicines, which in many instances require forex.
While bureaux de change have been around for a while after being re-established recently, individuals without certain requirements, such as passports and invoices to justify the need for forex, were excluded from accessing foreign currency from formal channels.
“We do not want someone to go to the black market to buy foreign currency for small transactions. We are saying, let us make sure that all transactions in the country are above board,” Dr Mangudya said.
To buy a minimum of US$50 per week at the official ruling rate plus commission, individuals will just need to produce their identity cards.
Monetary authorities believe that redirecting law-abiding citizens from the illegal parallel market to a formal market would go a long way in dealing with the ruinous impact of the black market for forex.
“We are creating a platform where people can buy foreign currency through a formal channel so that we do not criminalise our people, we want to formalise all transactions; we want to make sure all small value transactions are above board,” he said.
The governor believes foreign currency bought from bureaux de change will find its way back into the formal channels through the purchase of goods and services as well as taxation to ultimately positively impact the economy.
Bureaux de change, Dr Mangudya said, will need to have the Zimbabwe dollar equivalent of any amount of foreign currency they will need to apply for from the central bank at any given moment.
“The bureaux de change are going to purchase the US dollars using their Zimbabwe dollar balances, we will not give them for free, we will exchange the Zimbabwe dollars for the US dollars,” he said.
The bank said it will use a robust monitoring system to ensure that the facility being put in place to help those in need will not be abused by unscrupulous elements among the citizens.
“We will use our monitoring system that allows us to have an overview of all the transactions in the economy,” said the central bank chief, urging the whole nation to adopt a positive attitude towards Government’s economic policies.
Dr Mangudya pointed out that the country’s key economic fundamentals were strong to support policies authorities have been rolling out to ensure quicker and sustainable recovery of the economy.-ebusinessweekly.c.zw
