Zimbabwe Central Bank Delivers New High-Denomination Notes, But Cash Shortages Persist

Long lines remained a fixture outside Zimbabwean banks on Friday as consumers and business people struggled to get their hands on cash despite deliveries of new high-denomination notes to financial institutions by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

Sources in Harare and elsewhere said cash remained scarce despite the distributions of the new bearer checks - central bank promissory notes, essentially.

After delays Thursday, the central bank issued bearer checks in denominations of Z$250,000, Z$500,000 and Z$750,000 in an effort to relieve cash shortages caused by soaring inflation and, says Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono, hoarding by the parallel foreign exchange and commodities market dealers he calls “cash barons.”

Gono said in a televised address Wednesday that the central bank will withdraw from circulation all notes for Z$200,000 - until this week the largest bank note. But banks in Harare and Bulawayo were still paying them out to customers, sources said.

by Ntungamili Nkomo

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