Why all Zimbabweans should be queuing to make withdrawals

Lately there have been a lot of murmurs about the Zimbabwean banking sector…

Phrases such as “financial crises” and “liquidity situation” have been used to describe what had only recently been described as a “recovering” banking sector. Could we be on our way back to the debacle of 2003?

The media is making no efforts to improve the “situation” instead they insist on fueling speculations leaving us to wonder whether our chosen banks are safe or in the red.

Should we be in one of these?

Or one of these??

Why am I bothered? Previously I had only one bank account with a highly reputable international bank. However, highly reputable comes with a price which I paid for monthly in the form of exorbitant service and monthly charges. There were also no prospects of my highly reputable bank extending any loan facility in my direction if need arose. Maybe because all its money is tied up in hefty football league sponsorships- that’s just my uninformed guess.  This led me to open another account with an indigenous bank, for hedging purposes. Now with this furore in the banking sector how can I be sure that my new bank will not close in the coming month. 

“While 6 out of 26 banks used to be strong a few months ago and the rest were breaking even, the situation has now dramatically deteriorated”. My lay man's translation – the six that were doing well in the past may not be doing well in the present…. The other 20 which were managing to break even well we can only hope for the breaking even but expect the losses…

If you bank with MBCA, breathe, all is well their performance is sterling given the circumstances.

“What is happening is that banks have lent lots of money to companies and individuals who are failing to repay”. *shaking head*. If you are banking with one of those loan happy banks be afraid, be very afraid.

At least GG has some biltong to chew now; the man has been rather scarce post dollarization.

The above quotations are from “sources” from the media who choose to remain anonymous lest they be hounded by paranoid clients such as myself.

I can only hope that I haven’t scared you, if I have I can only hope that you will be consoled by the fact that the banks performing the worst share less than 10% of the local  market share.

If that offers no consolation, be consoled by the fact that I am not a banker I am just another paranoid Zimbabwe with money in the bank.