bearer cheques had a lifespan of six months, but their validity has been extended regularly. The new bearer’s cheques, released by the central bank to commercial banks this week, already carry the changed dates of expiry of July 31 next year. The bearer’s cheques are in denominations of Z$5,000, $10,000, $20,000, $50,000 and $100,000. Analysts said the extension of the lifespan of the bearer’s cheques meant that despite reports that they can easily be forged, the RBZ was confident that they would temporarily solve the cash problem.
“They were just experimenting. But it has given them temporary reprieve while they work on a more durable solution to solve the crisis,” said Kingdom Holdings’ financial analyst, Witness Chinyama.
“They need to work on inflation because it is the underlying cause. The injection of cash should be in tandem with an increase in output,” said Chinyama.
Others said the bigger notes should be a reminder to both industry and agriculture of the need to boost production, which will help in stabilizing the economy and also addressing the current drivers of inflation, such as limited foreign exchange reserves.
2.8.2007
0:00
Bearer cheques extended
HARARE
Government has gazetted a one-year extension of bearer cheques that were expected to expire on July 31.
Bearer cheques were introduced amid an intense cash shortage in 2003 and function as normal currency although they do not fall under the common definition of money.
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