Mass action threatened over cash shortage

Zimbabwe's Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) on Friday said a decision would be reached this weekend on whether its members would go ahead with mass action to protest acute currency shortages in the country. "ZCTU will hold a general council meeting on Saturday, which is expected to deliver concrete plans with regards to when the action will go ahead. There is as yet no fixed date, but we will be relying on input from the various labour forums, which will guide what form the mass action should take," ZCTU general-secretary Wellington Chibebe told IRIN. In March ZCTU organised a job stay-away that shut down most businesses for two days. The mass action was aimed at pressuring the government to reverse a fuel price hike. Chibebe said the government had not yet responded to a ZCTU letter requesting a speedy solution to the cash shortages, which are forcing citizens to queue for days as they attempt to withdraw money from financial institutions. The lack of banknotes has forced many Zimbabweans to keep money at home. With inflation running at around 400 percent, retailers and other traders have not been making deposits. Banks have limited individual withdrawals to a maximum of Zim $5,000, slightly over US $5. According to a new law: "It will be a criminal offence for any individual to be in possession of cash exceeding $5 million [about US $6,000] at any time."