HARARE Parliament is this week expected to debate the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Amendment Bill tabled in the House of Assembly for its second reading last Wednesday. (Pictured: Finance Minister Tendai Biti)
Finance Minister Tendai Biti described the draft law as a “fire-fighting bill” that sought to limit the RBZ to the traditional role of managing monetary policy. The Bill was moved to the House of Assembly after Parliaments legal committee issued a non-adverse report on the proposed law. Cabinet endorsed the draft law about four months ago.
Biti said the RBZ Amendment bill was a transitional regulation meant to rationalise operations at the central bank, restore credibility and attract much-needed financial support from donors, unwilling to provide funding to the unity government until the RBZ has been extensively reformed and re-organised. The government has put its economic reconstruction and recovery bill at US$10 billion but has found it near impossible to raise funding from donor countries and multilateral institutions concerned at the weak controls and other misgovernance at the central bank.