BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) has revealed that it has collected about 45% of its debts in United States dollars from ratepayers as its credit control policy begins to bear fruit.
In an interview, the BCC finance and development committee chairperson Mpumelelo Moyo told Southern Eye that residents have been opting to pay bills in foreign currency which he hopes will help to improve service delivery in the city.
“The city council started sending out US$-indexed bills in June 2023. Therefore, the US$ receipts are at 45% in the collections of the debts owed under the credit control policy,” said Moyo.
“This is for the good of the city because for us to be able to improve the city status we need foreign currency since our own Zimbabwean dollar currency is always inflated,” Moyo said.
He said the hard currency assisted the local authority to acquire products and services that required the use of the foreign money.
“The US$ collections are helping council to get services and products that are strictly in US$ such as fuel which feeds to service delivery improvement,” he said, however noting that the prevailing harsh economic situation across the country was affecting residents’ ability to settle their debts with the council.
Moyo also revealed that council approved a credit and debt management policy in February 2020 which ensures that the city’s approach to debt recovery is sensitive, transparent and equitably applied and also to ensure that all revenues due to the city are collected timely in a cost-efficient manner.
The credit policy has so far helped in recovering debts, however, full enforcement of the provisions of the policy is being stalled by the current adverse economic conditions which are negatively impacting residents.
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Moyo said the outstanding debt was nearly US$11 million and rising.
“Residents are coming forward to make payments towards their debts and the collection efficiency currently stands at 47% of the billing,” he said.
Residents, industry, commerce and government owed the city ZWL$293 billion as at the end of October 2023, which is equivalent to US$45,1 million.
