By Alois Vinga
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has dismissed media reports suggesting its desire to forcefully withhold all foreign currency that comes through diaspora remittances.
This follows circulation of a viral video posted on social media platforms Friday in which RBZ deputy director, William Mamhimanzi was allegedly quoted saying the apex bank was exploring measures on how best to forcefully withhold all the foreign currency sent back home by diasporans.
“This could include forcing those who get money from their relatives in the diaspora to change it into local currency,” the viral message said in part.
But contacted for comment and challenged to share finer details on the matter, a senior member of the RBZ Monetary Policy Committee, Persistence Gwanyanya distanced the central bank from such plans and described the viral message as a product of misinterpretation.
“The central bank does not, and shall not, lay its hands on diaspora remittances. They are free funds and remain as such. In fact, whoever peddled the viral message grossly misinterpreted Mamhimanzi’s explanation.
“For the record, the RBZ top official is simply saying that diaspora remittances have been on the rise throughout the year. Therefore, there is a need to craft fair policies to enable the economy to benefit from such funds on a broader scale.
“Effectively, any such policy will not be forceful as alleged but will be birthed through voluntary encouragement for recipients to inject the funds into the economy by first and foremost making the local currency highly attractive. This is something which the bank is so patient to wait for, work for and earn in the end,” he said.
Gwanyanya stressed that such measures are already under implementation, currently giving examples of the requirement to settle tax payments in the local unit and keeping the foreign exchange market liquidated among others.
“The RBZ currently has adequate stocks of foreign currency and the only way to tap into the diaspora remittances will be via the enactment of attractive incentives and voluntary surrender,” he added.
RBZ Governor John Mushayavanhu
In a statement Friday, RBZ Governor John Mushayavanhu clarified that no such new policy to arbitrarily grab foreign currency from recipients was being mooted.
“The Reserve Bank has noted the circulation of a video on social media whose discussion was focused on strategies for formalisation of the informal sector and the resultant concerns from the market regarding misconstrued plans to review the current Diaspora Remittances Policy.
“Accordingly, the Reserve Bank wishes to put it on record that there are no plans to introduce a new Diaspora Remittances Policy. In terms of our current Exchange Control regulations, diaspora remittances are treated as free funds, which recipients can receive in foreign currency and change freely at their instance and preferred licenced agencies, as is tye best practice globally.
“The Reserve Bank would like to assure the public and all stakeholders that recipients of diaspora remittances will not be forced to change their free funds at the point of collection and any other time,” said Mushayavanhu.
Official records show that diaspora remittances surged 17% to US$490 million in the first quarter of 2024 when compared to the same period in 2023 as Zimbabweans living outside the country increased their support to relatives back home. During the same period last year, diaspora remittances were US$420 million.
