Zimbabwean authorities responded swiftly to the recent decline in the new gold-backed currency by apprehending illicit moneychangers and closing the bank accounts of businesses accused of exclusively dealing in U.S. dollars.

On Monday, Zimbabwe business owners pleaded with parliamentary committees to ask the government to stop arresting moneychangers and re-open the bank accounts of companies accused of only accepting foreign currency.

“This is an inception process of a monetary policy shift,” said Sekai Kuvarika, the chief executive officer of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries. “So, let’s give ourselves time. Let’s give the market time. Let’s give the policymakers time to iterate how the policy is going to work in our markets. But we definitely do not support that we accompany our policies with the police.”

Last week, police arrested several people it said were fueling the black market where Zimbabwe’s new currency, called ZiG, introduced earlier this month, is trading at around 20 ZiG for one U.S. dollar.

The government’s official exchange rate is 13 ZiG to a dollar.

Owen Mavengere, with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe, said
arresting moneychangers causes panic.

“The parallel market and those dealers in the streets are a symptom of the problem,” Mavengere said. “Sending the police doesn’t inspire confidence. So, we would rather have a situation where we handle the root cause. And use a soft approach.”