Chronicle Editor
By Rutendo Nyeve
The resort town of Victoria Falls has been hit by a shortage of small US dollar denominations due to the Covid -19 pandemic which has affected Small to Medium business operators who used to trade in small denominations.
The town has seen the US$1, US$2 and US$5 dollar notes disapearing from the streets, causing a huge impact on business transactions as customers struggle to get change while businesses end up losing sales as some would be customers leave shops without buying anything in frustration.
A local entrepreneur operating under the bracket of Small to Medium enterprises who runs a Barbour shop in the town, Mr Tavengwa Makore said they have to spend time looking for change while in some cases they have lost business as clients walk away.
“The shortage of small notes in the town has affected us to the point that we are being forced to turn away clients who will bring big notes or to spend more time going around looking for change instead of being at work,” said Mr Makore.
Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe Southern region Chairperson, Mr Arnold Musonza confirmed the shortage saying he suspected it was due to the Covid -19 pandemic.
“This is true and I suspect it is because of the current Covid-19 pandemic impact on small scale operators like curio markets, flea markets, tourists retail shops, etc” Said Mr Musonza
He added that the closure of the border post has also affected cross border trade with Zambia which used to generate US notes of all forms.
“The solution lies in the reopening of all these businesses including our borders for business. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe may need to inject small denominations through banks. The use of plastic money is another option. The mobile money across currencies can also help deal with deficit in small denominations in hard currency,” he said.
Lupane State University Lecturer and Economist Mr Bukhosi Mpofu concurred with the Victoria falls business operators attributing the shortage of the small notes to low business by Small to Medium enterprises.
“Companies that generate a significant portion of their revenues in physical cash, including restaurants, bars and convenience stores, would normally deposit their earnings at local banks. That regular activity, in conjunction with regular inflows of new money helps resupply the nation’s banks with small change to then reallocate back into local circulation, that has not been happening because of closure of businesses due to the lockdown” said Mr Mpofu.
The shortage of small US dollar denominated notes comes at a time when the town which is a tourism hub is looking forward to a tourism reboost as the tourism sector recently got a green light to resume operations for domestic tourism.
Bongani Ndlovu