The United States Embassy in Harare says all US dollar notes including soiled and damaged ones remain legal tender.
In Zimbabwe, businesses reject soiled US dollar banknotes and illegal money changers are making a killing by exchanging old and torn US notes for a fee.
A torn US$10 note, for instance, is being exchanged for half its value in Zimbabwe dollars.
In a statement on Thursday, the US Embassy said all notes remain legal tender unless advised by the Federal Reserve. It said:
US government policy is that all designs of US Federal Reserve notes remain legal tender or legally valid for payments, regardless of when they were issued.
This policy includes all denominations of Federal Reserve notes from 1914 to the present.
… any badly soiled, dirty, defaced, disintegrated, limp, torn or worn out currency note that is not mutilated and does not require special examination to determine its value, is considered legal tender by the US government.
Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation (VISET) director, Samuel Wadzai welcomed the clarification by the US Embassy.
Wadzai urged VISET members not to reject the soiled and torn USD notes saying “it’s not our money”.
Economic analyst Vincent Musewe said banks and businesses should take the lead in instilling confidence in the use of damaged USD bank notes.
Chitungwiza Business Association Secretary-General David Ndoro said:
It’s possible only if the banks accept those soiled notes. In turn, we can accept from customers.
Major wholesalers and retailers are refusing the notes also, so it’s a real challenge.
Another challenge is that most traders do not bank USD due to high charges and fear of ever-changing monetary policies.
They see it safe to keep their USD at home. Under such a scenario no one accepts such money.
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