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Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter
DEPOSITORS have welcomed the upward review of the daily bond note withdrawal limit to $100 and $300 per week saying the move would impact positively on business and ease cash shortages.

On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) announced that it had injected an additional $12 million worth of bond notes into the economy.

A snap survey carried out by Business Chronicle yesterday, showed that depositors were withdrawing $100 up from between $25 and $50 on bond notes.

At CABS Jason Moyo branch in Bulawayo, depositors said they appreciated the efforts being made by the monetary authority in trying to solve the cash shortage.

“We appreciate the efforts being made by the Reserve Bank in trying to ease the cash shortages being experienced in the country. We are happy that our bank today has increased the daily withdrawal limit to $100.

“I am happy that today I have managed to withdraw $100, something that has not been happening at the bank for quite a long time since the cash crisis began. However, as depositors, we hope this is not going to be a once off thing,” said Mr Samson Zuze.

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

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

A depositor with the National Building Society (NBS), Ms Thelma Ncube said:

“The upward review of withdrawal limits was a step in the right direction particularly during the festive season when people would be doing a lot of transactions. At least the improvement in withdrawal limits guarantees us of cash during the festive season. We just hope and pray that this situation going forward will improve for the better.”

At NBS yesterday the queue was generally shorter than at other banks.

An official at NBS who preferred not to be named said they had received more bond notes from the RBZ and this had gone a long way in improving their liquidity.

Depositors at CBZ, corner Fife Street and 10th Ave said it was prudent for banks to ensure they improve their service delivery so that clients do not spend much of their valuable time waiting in queues.

RBZ Governor Dr John Mangudya said the disbursement of additional bond notes was in line with the bank’s gradual and measured approach to disbursing the notes into the market on a “drip-feed basis”.

The monetary authority has expressed satisfaction with the rate at which the banking public has accepted the surrogate currency.

@okazunga