Fuel voucher system scrapped, queues form again at pumps

Long queues are once again forming outside petrol stations in Zimbabwe as the government moves to scrap its programme allowing people to buy fuel with foreign currency. Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono told the official Sunday Mail that he had cancelled, with immediate effect, the programme allowing motorists to purchase fuel with foreign currency coupons at designated service stations. Gono said members of the public were abusing the system and engaging in speculative and parallel market activities. "The foreign currency fuel coupons framework was introduced in August 2005 as a vehicle to mobilise free funds and increase the availability of fuel for the motoring public as a contribution towards the turnaround of the economy. However, though the facility performed well during its early days of inception, some members of the public started to abuse the facility and used it for speculative and parallel market activities, thus militating against its main objective," Gono was quoted as saying. Fuel coupons had to be redeemed at various foreign currency purchasing centres to reimburse authorised dealers and coupon holders in local currency. The central bank said the deadline for redeeming coupons was 28 February. Economist Dennis Nikisi told IRIN that the announcement would not affect direct fuel imports by service stations, and Gono was "hoping to end parallel market trade in fuel - the danger was that fuel was selling at a premium on the black market, as people were engaging in arbitrage". Motorists now had to pay for fuel in local currency, so there was "no opportunity to sell it on the black market", and exploit differences between official and parallel market rates for fuel and foreign currency. "I've been in touch with a number of service stations myself, and the ban on foreign currency coupons has not affected their ability to import fuel [as it affects only consumers]," Nikisi said. "But what I have discovered is queues again forming at petrol stations. This is simply because the commodity is not available at several fuel stations."