Zim to release second batch of bond notes

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, in a statement Wednesday, thanked the public, consumers and the business community for "embracing bond notes following the release of the first batch of $10 million bond notes on January 28, 2016", saying their introduction had been "a success".

"In line with the strategy to release the bond notes on a measured or drip-feed basis, the bank would like to advise the public that it is releasing the second batch of $2 bond notes amounting to $7 million this week," central bank governor John Mangudya said in the statement.

"This brings the total amount of bond notes disbursed to $17 million against a value of $70 million payable to exporters of goods and services under the export incentive scheme."

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Mangudya said the bond notes were "of high quality with many security features to make them secure".

"The rubbing off of ink and variation of the security thread on the notes are quite," he said.

This comes after the public had expressed concerns on the quality of the money.

Zimbabwe introduced bond notes - said to be backed by a US$200 million Africa Export and Import Bank loan facility - late last month on November 28 to stem a biting liquidity crisis.

They are valued at 1:1 against the US dollar and they come with a five percent export incentive dangle.

At the end of November, the central bank rolled onto the market $2 notes and $1 coins, the latter which had not been advertised

previously. The $5 notes of the surrogate currency family will be introduced a bit later.

First to be introduced were the bond coins - 1 cent, 5c, 10c, 25c and 50c in December 2014.

Zimbabwe has been using a multi-currency system since February 2009, and it includes the South African rand, the Botswana pula, the British pound, the Australian dollar, the Japanese yen, the Chinese yuan, the Indian rupee, the euro as well as the American dollar.