Source: Stiff penalties for bond notes rejection | The Herald January 20, 2017
Business Reporter—-
LAWMAKERS have proposed legal provisions in the Bond Notes Bill for stiff penalties against anyone found rejecting bond notes as a legal tender.
This Bill will amend the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act to enable the central bank to issue “bond notes” exchangeable at par value with the US dollar.
The law is meant to validate the issuance of bond coins currently in circulation, which were the forerunner to the notes “for the avoidance of doubt”.
Monetary authorities mooted the idea of bond notes to as an export incentive, which was pegged at 5 percent of the proceeds, to encourage export growth.
Apart from exporters, the export incentive is also paid for Diaspora remittances. Bond notes circulate alongside other currencies including South Africa rand, Botswana pula, Chinese yuan, Japanese yen and Australian dollar.
According to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Bond Notes Bill, legislators also want the law to impose stiff penalties for anyone who exchanges the notes at a rate other than the prescribed one-to-one with the US dollar.
These proposals are contained in a set of recommendations legislators want included in the Bill, which establishes the legal status of the bond notes.
“The Bill should provide for penalties for those individuals and corporates that do not accept bond notes and coins as legal tender,” the committee said.
While the bond notes have defied initial skepticism and received overwhelming public acceptance, there have been isolated instances where some businesses rejected the notes or demanded a mix with US dollars.
Lawmakers also proposed that the Bill should provide a mechanism for recourse at the expiry of the bond guarantee to instil confidence in the public.
The bond notes, introduced by the RBZ in November last year, are backed by a $200 million facility from regional bank, African Export and Import Bank.
The committee also observed that some banks have stopped use of ATMs, much to the prejudice of the banking public. It is recommended that the RBZ and the banks ensure that bond notes are dispensed from the ATMs.
The lawmakers also recommended that the Reserve Bank should publish, on a quarterly basis, information relating to the value of exports generated and the corresponding value of the bond notes and coins paid to the exporters.
According to the Parliamentary Committee on Bond Notes, the central bank should also consider establishing a committee which includes representatives of business and labour, which limits the issuance of bond notes.
COMMENTS
“No one will be forced to accept bond notes”. Lying zanoid thieves.
That old geriatric f…t who is the “absent President” is now on his way back to Dubai after his blood transfusion. That flight will cost $100 000. Maybe it is raining too much in Singapore so DisGrace can’t go shopping.
Extort the real currency from the povo relying on their families in the diaspora and then threaten them again with a beating from the Zed Arra Pee if they resist to tell the world that the Bond notes are wonderful, Bobsie and Scoonsie are champions of liberty which has created the happiest people in the world.
QED.
The povo you feel sorry for have just whole-heartedly voted for ZANU PF in Zaka and are celebrating the fact. Allow people to choose their own destiny as long as they do it democratically. Mugabe gives the vote and people choose what they want. Nobody is too think to understand the link between the vote and what happens after the vote (how the land is ruled) we all understand and we choose by majority vote.
Lets not condemn democracy while we can use it. I have just stopped sending money into Zim because I think it is an abuse of my good will for family members to be voting ZANU PF at my expense.
why don’t the law makers pass a law that says everyone will be well-off i mean after all, as zimbabwean zanupf mps they are due instant obedience.
then they can say that everyone who is poor, is poor because they broke this law and therefore deserve what they get… magic !!
Poverty is a life style choice in Zimbabwe. Allow people to live how they like.
Cloud cuckoo land. Create money out of toilet paper and force you to accept it. May as well force people to accept Mugabe is God at the barrel of a gun. These scum should all have been wiped off the face of the earth a long time ago, including Mugabe. Can anyone honestly say that the world would not be a better place if they did not exist? Bloodsucking leeches and murderous thugs.
The RBZ governor is on record saying “no one will be forced to accept bond notes”. I should not be punished i i reject them, neither should i be punished i i rate the bond notes, rating the bond notes is just another way of saying i do not want your bonds.
This is the policy inconsistency that is turning investors away. We have politicians who cannot maintain a position for more than six months. How can a serious investor make a long-term decision in an environment where policies and laws are inconsistent?