HARARE – Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mushayavanhu says there is nothing stopping fuel dealers from selling some of their product in Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency.
Access to the US dollar remains crucial to petroleum companies who import fuel.
Mushayanhu told StarFM on Thursday that dealers selling fuel in ZiG will have no hassles to raise funds to pay the required 50 percent of their taxes in the local currency.
“So if I were a fuel dealer today, I would start selling some of my fuel in ZiG and some in USD because we are in a multi-currency regime,” the governor said.
“There is nothing stopping a fuel dealer selling their fuel partly in ZiG and partly in any other currency.”
The central bank made it mandatory for companies to settle at least 50 percent of their tax obligations on Quarterly Payment Dates (QPDs) in ZiG.
Mushayavanhu warned dealers that when they become desperate mid- year, the ZiG exchange rate would have firmed.
“If the fuel dealer is not selling fuel in ZiG they will find themselves in a situation where they are looking for ZiG in June/July because they are also a taxpayer and they are supposed to pay 50 percent of their tax in ZiG so if they are not selling their product where they are going to get ZiG from? And I have to warn them that when we get to June, the rate may strengthen such that they will be losing out,” he said.
Experts have warned that the ZiG will fail for as long as it is unable to buy certain goods and services – particularly fuel.
The new gold backed ZiG was announced early April with the public accessing bank notes and coins from April 30.
