Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has directed banks to surrender their excess liquidity in return for Non-Negotiable Certificates of Deposit yielding zero (0) percent with effect from 4 June.
As a result of the development, players in the financial sector have sounded the alarm likening it to the expropriation of liquidity.
In the past, the central bank has dabbled in quasi-fiscal activities, with devastating consequences for economic stability.
With the 2023 general election drawing closer, the government will need massive funding.
This comes after the central bank a fortnight ago recorded a sharp decline in reserve money only to recover a fraction last week.
Commenting on the banks’ protests, George Charamba, a Press Secretary in the Office of President Emmerson Mnangagwa suggested that the banks were also not giving interest to depositors.
Responding to a post by The NewsHawks on Friday, Charamba said:
_You miss the glaring irony in this protest by banks??? What interest have they been giving depositors???? You can’t see that????_
Commenting on the same matter, one Tinashe Manyangadze @tinamanyangadze accused banks of “eating away depositors’ money purporting to be charging ‘bank charges.’”
