eBusiness Weekly
HARARE – The three-month moratorium extended to individuals and corporates to return money that they illegally siphoned out of the country ends this Wednesday with the public eagerly awaiting confirmation of the amounts returned and disclosure of those who failed to comply.
Soon after taking office last November, President Emmerson Mnangagwa issued a three-month deadline to individuals and corporates that the government said was aware eternalized funds illegally, to return them on a no questions asked basis or charges preferred against them.
“Upon expiry of the three-month window, Government will proceed to effect arrest of all those who would not have complied with this directive, and will ensure that they are prosecuted in terms of the country’s laws,” President Mnangagwa said at the time.
He warned that he would “name and shame” those who failed to heed the call on expiry of the deadline on March 1, 2018. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has over the years protested against the malpractice, estimated to have cost the country billions in the past few years.
Externalization has been as one of the chief causes of the cash shortages that have rocked the economy since 2014.
The central bank, which was tasked with dealing with those willing to comply with the moratorium, said early this month significant amounts had been returned to the country since last December.
“The responses have been positive from both individuals and corporates in respect of foreign currency that was externalised by commission or omission or under the liberalised Exchange Control framework with such foreign currency banked offshore or used to acquire foreign assets,” RBZ governor Dr John Mangudya said when he presented the first half monetary policy statement.
He said the exact figures of the amounts and or assets returned would be made public once the moratorium period expired.
Dr Mangudya stressed that the amnesty did not affect funds and assets acquired by Zimbabweans in the Diaspora.
Conviction on externalisation charges not only carries a heavy fine but can also include a jail sentence. – New Ziana
