Minister of Finance Patrick Chinamasa on Monday confirmed the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe had been restored its lender of last resort.

Appearing before the parliamentary portfolio committee on Finance and Economic Planning, Chinamasa said everything was set for the central bank to resume its operations as the lender of last resort.

“Re- engagements of RBZ to its purposeful roles in the country have now been completed.

“By next month the central bank will be functional,” he said.
The central bank ceased to perform its lender of last resort role following the country’s adoption of multicurrency regime.
“Although the country has no its official currency to manage, the central bank will be given the role it performed before we moved from our Zimbabwean dollar to be the government’s bank, a role that was taken over by Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe.
“It is now up to Ministry of Finance and the central bank to make and engage with sources of funding for the development of our ailing economy,” he said.
The Minster said that in two months’ time he will come back in parliament with an amendment that seeks to restore the duties of the central bank.
On the liquidity crunch currently hitting the country, Chinamasa said the banking sector should restore confidence to depositors.
“Many people are keeping large amounts of money into their homes because they have lost confidence with the banking sector.
“The banking sector should offer depositors promotions to encourage them to bank their money,” he said.
Chinamasa added that the banking sector is not performing well such that most profits being incurred by the banks are bank charges only.
Responding to a question raised by Bulawayo Central Member of Parliament, Dorcas Sibanda on the issues of ghost workers, Chinamasa said the country had no ghost workers in its civil service unit.