RBZ to investigate banks

In a ministerial statement on cash shortages and bank charges delivered in Parliament on Thursday, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said that investigations were being carried out to establish the source of the new bond notes that are in the streets.

Chinamasa also denied that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and his ministry are buying foreign currency off the streets. He said that RBZ will investigate banks the same way they investigated the driver who leaked the bond notes invoice. Said Chinamasa:

Relating to the pictures and videos of wads of bond notes which have been circulating on social media, investigations are being carried out to establish the sources of the new bond notes in the street. My Ministry and the RBZ do not participate in buying currency from the streets. You may be aware that Mrs Tariro Nyazema of Stanbic was caught red-handed, two or so months back with $30 000 that she had exchanged for bond notes at one of the bank’s branches. It is therefore our suspicion that this malpractice could be what is happening at other banks working in cahoots with unscrupulous traders and retailers. The investigations will be done in the same way that the RBZ managed to cause the arrest of Tinashe Sikwila, the driver who was circulating the bond coin invoice from the South African Mint. All of us should also be police officers. If we come across these practices, please report to the police, RBZ and the banks.

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