Bond notes lose their shine

Zimbabwe’s immigration department is rejecting payments in bond notes at a time the government is threatening to prosecute retailers who are also refusing the surrogate currency or charging a premium for its use. In a bid to address crippling shortages of the preferred US dollars, government last November launched the bond notes, decreeing that they had the same value as the American greenback. New Zimbabwe reports that activists protested against the move at the time and the market is now demonstrating its own scepticism. A three-tier pricing system has subsequently emerged whereby retailers charge a premium for those paying in bond notes. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe repeated warnings that retailers would face prosecution over the issue. ‘I want to be very clear about this. It is illegal,’ deputy RBZ head Kupukile Mlambo is quoted in the report as saying.