Chinoz: Scrap 5pct bond notes bonus

Chinoz: Scrap 5pct bond notes bonus

Wednesday, December 28, 2016 8:30 PM GMT

by: Staff Reporter

BUHERA South MP Joseph Chinotimba has urged government to abandon debate on the proposed Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Amendment Bill and further scrap the 5 percent incentive granted to exporters following the introduction of bond notes.

The Zanu PF MP was speaking during a recent parliamentary debate on the envisaged law which aims to legalise the use of bond notes in the national economy.

Chinotimba said parliament should just allow the Bill to pass through insisting it was pointless to discuss the law when bond notes were already in circulation.

“As Members of Parliament, we should just make sure the Bill on bond notes sails through so that our constituents visit their rural areas with cash,” he said. 

“We should not continue to discuss the currency that is already in circulation because the bond note and the bond coin is just the same. So, I do not see any need to discuss this.”

The government, through the central bank, in December 2014 introduced bond coins ostensibly to provide loose change to Zimbabweans who were rounding off prices to the next dollar.

Government further introduced bond notes in November this year claiming the surrogate currency was meant to incentivise local exporters in an economy that was losing billions through imports.

But Chinotimba felt the 5 percent incentive was an unnecessary burden on the fiscus.

“We need to ask honourable (Finance Minister Patrick) Chinamasa how it is possible for someone who is penniless to be given a 5% incentive after exporting,” he said.

“What is the reason for that?  It is supposed to be one dollar to one dollar.  If one is owed a dollar, they should be given that dollar. 

“This issue of a 5% incentive is not what we want, this should be scrapped.  Where are you getting that money? Excuse me, where is the money coming from?  We are saying, those who would have exported should just be given the amount of money equivalent to the value of their exports.”

Meanwhile, fellow MPs have asked government to pull down what they found to be deceiving adverts linking the introduction of bond notes to exports when there was no such mention in the Bill.

Hatfield MP Tapiwa Mashakada said the original thinking was not to make bond notes a general currency for the rest of the transacting public but an incentive for exporters.

“It (Bill) detracts from the original thrust of export incentive,” Mashakada said.

“As the Bill stands, it is just like any other currency that is being introduced which is not based on any export incentive.”

Zvimba West MP Ziyambi Ziyambi also said a lot of emphasis was given to the 5% export incentive “to the extent that an ordinary person who is not an exporter was in limbo”.

“The moment that we start using these superlatives that this is for exporters and so on, my grandmother who is in the rural areas will not understand it.  When you then try to give them that money, you confuse them.”


http://www.newzimbabwe.com/news-33970-Chinoz+Scrap+5pct+bond+notes+bonus/news.aspx