HARARE: Former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr Gideon Gono says the central bank could raise more than $1 billion by disposing of non-core assets to clear its debt, but vehemently dismissed recent claims by a Parliamentary Committee that the debt was overstated.
The ex-RBZ chief said discussions on the emotive issue of the RBZ’s debt should take into account assets and security it holds that Government could take and net off with its debts.
Dr Gono’s remarks follow claims by a Parliamentary Committee on Finance and Economic Development that the bank’s debt was grossly inflated.
Commenting in defence of the validity of RBZ’s debt, Dr Gono said he was constrained by banking laws and ethics to discuss in detail bank-client affairs in public or with unauthorised people.
However, he said he supported the process to account for every cent.The former RBZ boss said contractual obligations also did not allow him to comment in detail or with specifics on matters which, generally, a sitting governor was capable of dealing with.
Committee chairperson, Bikita West legislator Dr Munyaradzi Kereke, said figures in the RBZ Debt Management Bill were inflated by up to 2 500 percent and should be audited.
Dr Kereke picked the issue of the Meikles claim, which rose from $34 million in 1998 to $90 million, as the perfect example of one of the creditors who fraudulently inflated their claims.
But Dr Gono, the presiding governor of the apex bank when a significant portion of the debt was contracted, said he was available to explain to Parliament the entire make up of the central bank’s debt profile without risking confusion among key stakeholders.
On the Meikles debt, he said it was to be treated the same way other creditors were and its deposit with the central bank attracted the standard rate at which Government borrows from other entities.
