The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has issued a directive banning cash withdrawals from all Foreign Currency (FCA) Nostro Accounts following the promulgation of Statutory Instrument 142 of 2019.

Statutory Instrument 142 marked the return of the local Zimbabwe Dollar and scrapped the multi-currency regime.

What this essentially means is that if one earns USD, deposited into their Nostro account, they can’t draw the cash but will have to get it in Zim Dollar using that day’s interbank rate.

In a letter to banking institutions the RBZ advised that all local transactions shall be settled in local currency.

“All domestic transactions shall now be settled in Zimbabwe dollar, the sole legal tender in Zimbabwe which is represented by bond notes and coins and electronic currency i.e. RTGS” read the letter

RBZ also said all prices in retail outlets shall be displayed in local currency.

Several shops in Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Chinhoyi and other towns remained closed for business in the morning while closely monitoring the market’s reaction to the new currency regime brought about by Statutory Instrument (SI) 142 of 2019.

Some retail shops, however, were open for business although they had marked up prices of certain goods in anticipation of a further fall in the value of the local Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) dollar.

In one street where motor spares are sold, they sold their products in local currency using the existing forex rates and it was up to the consumer to use the US dollar.