THE Bank of Zambia (BoZ) has urged commercial banks to report any suspicious transactions that will occur during the rebasing period to avoid cases where some individuals will take advantage of the situation to clean up cash that has been hidden.
BoZ rebasing project manager Morris Mulomba said any suspicious transaction should be reported to the central bank so that they are investigated.
“If people want to take advantage of rebasing so that they can try to clean up their money which has been hidden for some time, as long as commercial banks are alert which is normally there because they don’t want to affect their reputation because of one client, that information will come out and appropriate measures will be taken,” he said.
Mr Mulomba said this in Siavonga on Saturday during a discussion with commercial banks dubbed Kwacha Rebasing, Opportunities and Costs.
He said Kwacha rebasing is a national exercise that must be given the importance it deserves.
He said the success of the currency rebasing exercise will largely depend on the commitment and collaboration of all key stakeholders and the public.
Mr Mulomba said the rebasing of the Kwacha will lead to the replacement of all notes and coins currently in circulation by a new family of notes and coins.
The exercise will also involve a wider review of the currency and enhancing security features of the Kwacha notes.
He said during the transition period of six months, the old and rebased currency will circulate simultaneously.
He said through the transition period, prices of goods and services, other payment commitments, exchange rates and taxes will have to be adjusted to conform to the rebased currency.
Mr Mulomba said Government is rebasing the Kwacha to address costs associated with an accumulative loss the currency has suffered because of high inflation.
He said the rebased Kwacha will facilitate business transactions, simplify the arithmetic calculations, understanding, use and management of the currency.
“Rebasing leads to greater confidence in the currency. When there are many zeros, people lose confidence in the local currency,” he said.
He said the rebased Kwacha will provide opportunities for introduction of other technologies such as vending machines and car parking meters.
Mr Mulomba said the re-introduction of coins that last longer in circulation will result into savings on costs associated with printing of paper notes.
He said there are costs associated with rebasing that includes information collection, analysis, designing of banknotes, printing and minting of banknotes and coins, cash exchange programme and public sensitisation.
Other costs associated with currency rebasing include re-calibration of certain equipment such as automated teller machines, banknote counting machines and accounting software.
[Zambia Daily Mail]
Reacting after the fact. Billions have been converted since the announcement of debasing. Talk of poor finishing.
Good point; exactly what I have always thought. Kwacha loosing value was because of panic buying of forex
Only fools could stl b keeping Zambian Kwacha. Most crooks hav bought properties and converted to foreign currency
Hot air! Who told you the banks dont need depositors money?
A little too late bwana, transactions have already been done thanks for your early announcement, but expect such from our Indian friend who stash cash in their houses but then its legitimate save for tax evasion.
What Mr Mulomba doesn’t say, is that the overall cost of what is said in the last and very short two paragraphs are so high rendering the exercise a costly one with no real gains – except for vending machines and car parking meters.
Mr Mulomba, the whole exercise of rebasing was aimed at catching those with big money especially former ministers in MMD govt. You will lose out in the end. There will some confusion during the six months. NO value addition pa ZED.
Hahahaha, who told you i need to keep my money in the bank with so many charges all the time? I have the right to keep it home and change it at the bank if need be. In case mr. Mulomba is brainwise bankrupt, i urge him to obsrve the findings of the Bank of Zambia that ,most of the Zambian people are unbanked and keep their money in pillows, tins and etc. Do not victimse these innocent souls.
IT IS TOO LATE YOUNG PEOPLE AT BOZ TO ANNOUNCED NOW, DULL AND LAZZY THINKING.
Its a bit too late for this notice…people who stashed cash already converted to forex and into investments months ago!!
First gentleman, Carry on dreaming or as they say in English, Barking up the wrong tree. Our own people were Shouting Kawalala uyo for 47 years and u have been surely duped if u dont read the papers and see who are the BIG thieves. WAKE UP??Mwenyes have gone ,long time back and are laughing at us .With your stupid attitude u might scare this investors.(infesters)LOL
ACTUALLY THAT WAS THE MOTIVE BEHIND THE REBASING!
this mulomba is as dull as his name sounds ilomba..who the heell do u think would be keeping big junks of cash..poor dull banker whatever yo call yourself.
Indeed a little too late. They have invested money in properties, changed it to dollar, rand, rupee, pound etc or even broken big amounts into small ones deposited into friend’s and relatives accounts.
VEERY VEERY DUULL CHHAAPS!
This warning has come about this time after they have converted to properties or forex. This country is full of unhonest people.
I didn’t know that there are coins in circulation. This is news to me! Strange
Rebasing was announced by Alex immediately after being appointed minister and soon afterwards the Kwacha started tumbling down from ZMK 4,950.00 to as low as ZMK 5,600.00 to one US Dollar at some time.
One of the reasons?!!! All the guys who had buried their cash like Liato were busy changing it into hard currency. Some of it would eventually find itself in their US Dollar bank accounts while some of it would be spent on new imports bought from South Africa, etc. brought in wholesale goods, etc.
This call is practically six to seven months late and Morris wants to sound the alarm over half a year to the fact … I say, give the smart people of the Zambian Enterprise a break. Now for all intents and purposes, rebasing is a noble enterprise as macro-economic indicators are now ripe.
I have a strong feeling that this whole debasing thing is a gimmick to steal. You will see how PF cadres like Kabimba will get rich after this. What do you expect from a man who moved 2 billion kwacha in his car boot from Parliament and put Ministry money in his personal account to eat the interest, his number 2 forged documents to claim that his pigs died of swine flu and made a claim to himself, his Finance Minister recently did a hash renovating job of Statehouse and paid himself heftly without following tender procedures. In the west, all these people would have been politically dead, but pa Zed these are now our heroes. Its either Zambians sleep too much or we are collective failures. Atase!
You should have used KK’s system, print the money have it in secret at BOZ! Then on Sunday night announce that the current kwacha will not be valid after one week, only ZMK25m (at current values will be allowed per individual or they have to explain to SITET (or like DEC and ZRA) on the source of the money and why it was not in the banking system. You should have seen our friends rushing to buy cars from us at exhorbitant prices!
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