HARARE – The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries on Tuesday called on the central bank to reimburse millions of dollars in hard cash garnished from private companies at the height of the country’s economic crisis.

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), seen as the voice of business in Zimbabwe, said if the cash-strapped Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) was unable to pay back cash it seized from foreign currency accounts (FCAs) of private firms then the should consider tax rebates for affected companies as a repayment option.

“The money that the RBZ owes companies must be returned,” Kanyekanye told journalists in Harare.

He added: “It is money that is owed and it needs to come back. It is a little bit difficult to quantify it. I will leave that to the RBZ. But given the outcry out there, that must be substantial. It is nice to get the money back. There is nothing wrong in giving tax credits in lieu of outstanding payments.”

Kanyekanye said companies were struggling to raise working capital from commercial banks and many have pleaded with the CZI to ask the RBZ to pay back the money it took from the firms so they could use it to boost operations.

RBZ governor Gideon Gono unilaterally seized millions of dollars from FCAs belonging to private firms and non-governmental organisations, including a US$ 7, 3 million from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, that was meant to fight disease among the poor.

Gono is blamed by economists and the International Monetary Fund of compounding Zimbabwe’s crisis through quasi-fiscal activities that saw the RBZ pump millions of dollars into financing newly resettled black farmers, most of them supporters of President Robert Mugabe’s previous regime who have however failed to produce enough food to feed the nation.

For example, Gono provided foreign currency to purchase tractors, motor cycles, combine harvesters, generators and small farm implements that were handed for free to black farmers by Mugabe just before elections in March 2008, in what analysts said was a clear attempt by the Zimbabwean leader to curry favour with a disgruntled electorate.

Huge debts incurred by the RBZ – including money seized from private FCAs – helped push the national debt to US$7, 6 billion, an amount the CZI and analysts say must be tackled urgently to create an enabling environment for companies to operate and the economy to grow.

“The current debt overhang being experienced by government is an impediment to accessing foreign financing especially from multilateral institutions,” said Kanyekanye.

“It is therefore imperative that the issue of debt be resolved. It is an important issue that must be dealt with as a matter of urgency to unlock much needed foreign direct investment,” added the CZI president.

Gono was no immediately available for comment on the matter.

By Zimonline