Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) chief executive Rosemary Mpofu has challenged the Government to take the lead in accepting payment in Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) to promote market and consumer confidence in the currency.
Mpofu made the call when the Joint Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance and Investment Promotion, and Industry and Commerce was receiving oral evidence on the 2024 Monetary Policy Statement (MPS).
The MPS was announced on 05 April 2024 by the Central Bank Governor John Mushayavanhu. Said Mpofu (via NewsDay):
The council is of the view that all government departments, including the passport offices, fuel stations, the Vehicle Inspection Department, and ZIMRA, among others should take the lead and demand payment for their services in the local currency, ZiGs.
This will not only help to boost confidence in the local currency but will send a clear signal to the region and globally that the ZiG is a real and acceptable currency and thus speed up its acceptance in the international markets.
She urged officials to speed up the introduction of the ZiG notes into circulation, emphasizing that the delay in releasing the new currency posed difficulties for both businesses and consumers. Said Mpofu:
There is also a need to shorten this lag period to avoid rejection of the new currency before it is introduced onto the market.
Mpofu also said prices have gone up since the announcement of the 2024 Monetary Policy Statement, especially of mealie-meal and rice.
Civil servants, who received part of their April salaries in local currency, rushed to shops to spend all their ZiGs fearing that the currency could lose value as what happened to the RTGS. Added Mpofu:
Under such circumstances, retailers often take advantage of the sudden increase in demand and tend to raise their prices though this usually happens only for a short period during that panic mode.
CCZ is, therefore, calling for the relevant authorities to closely monitor this abuse of consumers during this transition period.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor and the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and lnvestment Promotion, Mthuli Ncube, were expected to appear before the same committee.
