Zimbabwe’s central bank has reintroduced an electronic money transfer system as part of a raft of new measures aimed at containing a worsening economic crisis in the southern African country, APA learned Thursday.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono said that he was reinstating the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) payment system to facilitate smoother transactions among businesses and members of the public.
The RTGS system was suspended on October 3 amid accusations by Gono that it was being abused by currency speculators and businesses who pegged their prices at black market exchange rates.
Under the system, illegal currency dealers would transfer funds into accounts held by sellers of foreign currency at rates significantly higher than the official exchange rate.
Businesses took advantage of the distortions and pegged their prices at the “RTGS exchange rateâ€, which meant that prices were adjusted several times a day in line with movement in the exchange rate.
Other measures introduced by the central bank included a review of cash withdrawal limits for companies, restrictions on multiple bank account ownership and the pegging in foreign currency of minimum capital requirements for financial institutions.
Source African Press Agency
