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RBZ
Monetary Statement falls short of workers' expectations
Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
July 31, 2008
Following the
release of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Monetary
Policy Statement yesterday, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
(ZCTU) notes with dismay that the statement dismally failed to address
the plight of the workers in so far as cash withdrawals and the
fight against inflation is concerned.
In his policy, the RBZ
Governor indicated that minimum withdrawals have been upped to Z$200
(revalued or Z$2 Trillion old currency) which falls below the Z$2.5
trillion per day as suggested by the ZCTU.
In our letter dated 22
July 2008, the ZCTU also called for the review of the minimum withdrawals
to be reviewed after every three days to cushion workers against
transport costs that are rising everyday. The call was necessitated
by the fact that as a Workers Representative Board, the ZCTU was
receiving numerous calls from members who faced serious problems,
simply because they could not access cash from their accounts.
When the letter was written
to Dr. Gono on 22 July 2008, transport costs were around Z$150 billion
for a round trip to and from work, and by today, the average transport
is around Z$350 billion for the same round trip.
The ZCTU does not see
how the monetary policy would solve the problem of inflation. We
also do not know how the introduction of the old coins would solve
our problem of shortage of currency as the new coins would soon
be rendered useless by the galloping inflation.
The ZCTU is also concerned
that issues related to the tax threshold have not been adequately
addressed, resulting in workers being short-changed.
The $5 Trillion threshold
which was announced by the government comes far short of the Poverty
Datum Line (PDL), which now runs into more than $14 Trillion for
a family of six.
The ZCTU therefore
observes that yesterday's monetary policy and tax threshold
are simply damp squibs and it would not hesitate to call upon workers
to exercise their right to be heard.
Visit the ZCTU
fact sheet
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