By William Selmah, wselmah@gmail.com
Sinoe County Representative Matthew Zarzar is recommending that hoarding of cash be criminalized as a means of eliminating the ongoing scarcity of money in the local commercial banks in the country.
Rep. Zarzar says this will also go a long way in helping to restore confidence in the banking sector, which has been experiencing a nosedive in recent months.
Rep. Matthew Zarzar
He believes people are adopting hoarding as profit making tactic, and that only an enactment outlawing the practice can save the situation.
“If this is not done, the problem will persist even after new bank notes are printed,” Rep. Zarzar said.
Hoarding of cash by some elements is something that highly placed officials at the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) have confirmd.
Less than 10% of the billions of dollars cash currently in the Liberian economy is said to be in the formal banking system.
One official told www.newspublictrust.com this week that “some people are hoarding money her for speculative purpose.”
Sinoe County Rep. Zarzar has suggested that an immediate solution could also be to ending this cash shortage crisis through the passing of an Executive Order by the Liberian Presidency.
““People are keeping the money in houses and warehouses. If is criminalized, fear will be instilled in the people and they will go through the banking system,” the Liberian Lawmaker says.