Of Gono’s withdrawal limit and train rides

By Abel Dzobo

The paltry Z$100 billion withdrawal bank limit imposed by the Central Bank Governor, Gideon Gono, has relegated Zimbabweans, among them University students, to the tortuous train ride instead of buses as one cannot amass the Z$1 trillion that most of the conventional public transport are charging as fares.

Midlands State University students, who spoke to this reporter, said that though they had wanted to use road transport, they would now settle for the train as they had failed to raise the bus fare.
“I get Z$100 billion from the bank a day and bus fare from Gweru to Harare is Z$800 billion. How can I realistically come up with such an amount,” a student who had just finished writing exams said.

Another student said that commuting to and from town now cost $Z40 billion, hence one could only carry home Z$60 billion.
“With Z$60 billion a day, I must go to the bank for 10 days for me to come up with $600 billion, which is barely enough for the train,” he said.
The train fare has surged from Z$65 billion to Z$400 billion, a rise of about 615 percent that has compounded woes of the students and ordinary Zimbabweans.

The bank withdrawal limit cannot buy any commodity of great significance in the home, except green vegetables. Currently, a loaf of bread is going for between Z$150 to Z$200 billion, thus the withdrawal limit can only buy half a loaf. Airtime now ranges from $200 billion, especially for Econet Wireless (Buddie and Libertie).