Central Bank Chief Proposes Compensation for Dollarisation Victims
Finance Minister Tendai Biti projected in 2010 that the payout may amount to
US$6 million but the bill ballooned to more than US$18 million with
allegations that some so-called vultures were inflating their bank balances.
Gibbs Dube | Washington 15 March 2011
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono says there is swelling
discontent among those who lost millions of dollars in frozen accounts when
the country introduced a multiple currency regime.
Gono told a Parliamentary Committee on Mines and Energy that Finance
Minister Tendai Biti has to mobilize resources to compensate dozens of
people and companies whose accounts were frozen during the dollarization
process.
In 2010, Biti projected that the payout may amount to US$6 million but the
bill ballooned to more than US$18 million with allegations some were
inflating their previous bank balances.
Economists said Zimbabwe is not yet in a position to refund individuals and
companies that lost their money due to serious financial problems.
Economist Eric Bloch said compensating the victims of the economic meltdown
is a good idea but modalities of implementing the program are complex.
“It may also be pointless for people with bank balances at that time of less
than Z$100 trillion to pursue the matter as they will not get anything as
the local currency was valueless,” said Bloch.