Uncertainty as Zimbabwe reintroduces dreaded bond notes

Zimbabwe is set to introduce the dreaded bond notes next week despite strong resistance from citizens.

Reports said Zimbabwean banks are set to have separate ATMs for bond notes and the US dollars.

According to the state-owned Herald newspaper, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor John Mangudya said that local banks were busy configuring the automated teller machines to disperse both the US dollar and the bond notes.

The bond notes have been given the same value as the US dollar.

The Bond notes are backed by a US$200 million facility from the Cairo based African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank).

Zimbabwe has been hit by crippling cash shortages which surfaced in the first quarter of 2016 and which led to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe laying plans to introduce the notes as a corrective measure.

Lobby groups, activists and the opposition have fiercely resisted the introduction of the bond notes but the government is not backing down.