For
years,
excessive
bank
charges
have
discouraged
small
transactions
and
kept
millions
of
Zimbabweans
outside
the
formal
financial
system.
Speaking
at
a
post-Cabinet
media
briefing
earlier
this
week,
Information,
Publicity
and
Broadcasting
Services
Minister
Zhemu
Soda
said
the
reforms
will
streamline
overlapping
regulations
and
eliminate
unjustifiably
high
charges.
He
said:
“Cabinet
approved
the
streamlining
of
duplicated
and
overlapping
regulatory
licences
and
permits,
removed
unnecessary
levies
and
fees
and
lowered
unjustifiably
high
levies
and
fees.”
The
measures
include
scrapping
or
reducing
monthly
account
maintenance
fees
for
balances
below
US$100,
lowering
charges
on
transactions
under
US$5,
and
removing
cash
deposit
fees
for
both
US
dollar
and
ZiG
accounts.
Cash
withdrawal
fees
will
be
capped
at
2%,
while
account
opening
fees
are
also
set
to
be
reviewed
downward.