Deputy Minister of Finance and Investment Promotion, Kudakwashe David Mnangagwa, warned businesses against rejecting the ZWL$50 note, stating that they could face significant penalties.
He urged Members of Parliament to report such incidents for investigation and potential sanctions. Mnangagwa emphasised that Zimbabwe currently operates with a local currency alongside a multi-currency system, which will end in 2025. Therefore, businesses should not reject the local currency. He also informed the public that the government is actively addressing the issue and introduced ZiG (digital currency) as an alternative and store of value for those facing difficulties with bond notes. NewsDay cites him as saying:
On the issue of those rejecting our money, as lawmakers and representatives of the people, we should report to the Financial Intelligence Unit or the ministry so that we Investigate and ask why they are not accepting our currency, and sanction them.
At the moment we use the local currency and the multi-currency regime and it will end in 2025 … business people should not reject local currency.
I want to assure the august House and Zimbabweans that we are looking at this matter. We now have ZiG (digital currency) which is a store of value and an alternative for those who are unable to use bond notes, they can buy ZiG.
Informal traders and commuter transport operators refuse to accept the ZWL$50 note amid the depreciation of the Zimbabwe dollar. When the Zimbabwe dollar was reintroduced in 2019 after a decade-long suspension, there were smaller denominations like ZWL$2, ZWL$5, ZWL$10, and ZWL$20 but they have all been phased out as the local currency continued to lose value against the United States dollar. Since the August 23 and 24, 2023 elections, the local currency has lost over 18% of its value, with the current exchange rate standing at US$1:$5 633,8332 on the interbank market.