In a move that will send chills down the spines of tuckshop owners and other businesses, Zimbabwe’s government has made charging customers using black market rates when they pay using the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) a punishable offence.
In a bid to stabilise the new currency, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube introduced Statutory Instrument 81A of 2024 on Thursday, an amendment to the Exchange Control Act.
The update, known as the Exchange Control (Amendment of Schedule to Exchange Control Act) Notice, 2024, outlines the consequences for sellers who charge customers using rates above the official exchange rate published by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
Offenders may be subject to a civil penalty of 200,000 ZiG or the equivalent value of the foreign currency charged for goods or services.
Part of SI81A reads:
“A natural or legal person shall be guilty of a civil infringement if he or she, being a seller of goods or services, offers such goods or services at an exchange rate above the prevailing average interbank foreign currency selling rate published by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. In the event of default in complying with subparagraph (12), the civil penalty shall provide for—
Ezoic
(a) a combination of —
(i) a fixed penalty of two hundred thousand ZiG or an amount equivalent to the value of the foreign currency charged for the goods or services in question (whichever is the greater amount); and
(ii) a cumulative penalty over a period not exceeding ninety days of five per centum of the outstanding amount of the fixed penalty for each day (beginning on the day after the service of a civil penalty order) that the fixed penalty or any outstanding amount thereof remains unpaid by the defaulter;”
Following the announcement of SI81A, Zimbabweans shared mixed reactions on X (formerly Twitter). While some expressed support for the new amendments, others remained sceptical about the effectiveness of the law. Here are some of the reactions:
@bmusonza:
Vanhu ngavatenherwe muzvitorongo. There is no free market without law and order.
@Munyah_Wacho:
As long as there are players allowed to not accept the ZiG it won’t work
@X_I2022:
This similar to price controls! Goes against free markets.
Source iHarare
