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Prosper Ndlovu, Business Editor
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has injected an additional $12 million worth of bond notes into the market and immediately increased daily withdrawal limits to $100 and $300 per week.

The move guarantees depositors adequate cash ahead of the Christmas and New Year Holidays.

Long and winding queues had become common at banking halls with some individuals sleeping in queues.

The new batch of notes brings the total amount of bond notes in circulation to $29 million since the introduction of bond notes last month.

Central bank Governor Dr John Mangudya said in a statement dated December 19, 2016 that disbursement of additional notes was in line with the bank’s gradual and measured approach to disbursing bond notes into the market on a “drip-feed basis”.

“The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is pleased to advise the public that bond notes valued at $12 million were disbursed during the week ending 16th December 2016. This brings the total amount of bond notes disbursed from commencement on 28 November to 16 December 2016 to $29 million,” said Dr Mangudya.

“In view of this positive development and the need to ensure that the banking public is not continuously constrained by the lower withdrawal limits on bond notes of $25 and $50 per day, the bank (RBZ) has with immediate effect increased the daily bond note withdrawal limit to $100 per day or $300 per week for banks that have instituted weekly withdrawal limits.”

The initial $10 million and $7 million tranches of the new notes came in denominations of $2 notes while RBZ has said the $5 notes will be released in “due course”.

The apex bank chief also reported that all tobacco growers who sold their tobacco this year through the auction floors, including contracted tobacco growers, “have now benefited from the five percent export incentive scheme”.

Latest export receipts from the Tobacco Industry Marketing Board (TIMB) already indicate that Zimbabwe has sold $914 million worth of tobacco and was inching closer to breaching the $1 billion mark. This means tobacco farmers stand to enjoy close to $45 million in export bonus.

“This move is expected to provide impetus to tobacco farmers to continue with both reaping and processing of this year’s tobacco crop,” said the RBZ Governor.

He said the central bank was encouraged by the smooth circulation within the domestic economy of bond notes, which were primarily introduced to finance the export incentive scheme of up to five percent payable to exporters of goods and services and diaspora remittances.

To that effect, Dr Mangudya said a cumulative total of $6.2 million bond notes have been deposited by the banking public at banks as at 16 December.

“Against this background, bond notes shall fortuitously and subserviently go a long way to mitigate cash shortages within the economy. Clearing of cash queues at banks can never be an overnight event but it is a process,” he said

Dr Mangudya also expressed satisfaction with the rate at which the banking public is embracing the use of plastic money.

He said plastic money enhances efficiency and convenience while helping to ease pressure on demand for cash.

“We would like to urge financial institutions and other service providers to ensure that point of sale and other electronic payment facilities are spread throughout the country.

“We trust that these measures will go a long way towards making it easy for the public to transact during the festive season,” he said.

Since their introduction bond notes have gained acceptance despite being criticised by a sceptical public who viewed their introduction as a scheme to return the Zimbabwean dollar.

Economic experts have said bond notes would not only ease US$ banknote shortage but curb externalisation of foreign currency. The new notes trade at par with the US dollar and can be used for any transaction within Zimbabwe. The RBZ has said it would release a total of $75 million worth of bond notes by the end of this year, out of a total of $200 million Afreximbank-backed loan facility.