Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube on Tuesday said that civil servants and Government pensioners should be able to use their foreign currency COVID-19 allowances very soon.
Ncube made the remarks while responding to questions from journalists during a post-cabinet media briefing held at Munhumutapa offices on Tuesday evening.
He said that banks have created accounts for government to deposit the tax-free allowances while retailers are now in a position to be able to receive payments for goods and services. Ncube said:
Yes, the modalities for accessing the money have now been put in place. Banks were supposed to come up with ways to open accounts; that has been done, that was the first step.
The second step was to make sure retailers are able to receive payments for goods and services, so that has been put in place.
Please note that there has been progress and that allowance is tax-free as previously announced and we will capture that in the Finance Bill.
The government offered civil servants US$75 monthly allowances and government pensioners US$30 as COVID-19 allowances.
This came soon after nurses at Parirenyatwa Hospital staged a demonstration against health authorities’ extravagance while they wallowed in poverty.