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| ODD STORIES - Boy millionaire |
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 04 Mar Who isn’t a millionaire in Zimbabwe?
The young boy (pictured) with his millions worth of Zimbabwean dollars ought to be warned that the Zimbabwean government has made it illegal to possess more than Zim$500m in cash - the equivalent of 21 US dollars.
According to a new regulation published last month, anyone found with more than Zim$500m in cash will be guilty of "unlawful hoarding". Judging from the bundles of Z$200,000 the young boy is carrying, his stake is much more than the maximum allowed by the law.
Officially Zim$500m is worth around US$16 000. But it equates to only around US$21 on the dominant parallel market rates for foreign exchange.
It is also illegal for companies to settle any bills for more than US$250m (just over US$10) in cash. That means it is now technically illegal for traders to pay for 10 litres of fuel in cash.
The new regulation has been published under the Bank Use Promotion and Suppression of Money Laundering Act.
Last December, Central bank governor Gideon Gono blamed what he called "cash barons" for creating cash shortages and pushing up annual inflation, now more than 100 000%. The authorities want to encourage use of cheques and cards. But power cuts mean it’s often impossible to settle bills by electronic transfer of funds!
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