RETAIL BANKING IN A CRISIS

There has been  a major earthquake in the retail banks across the counrty recently with bank employees pulling movie like stunts. The way the employess have been "gangin" from their employers is just from a script Steven Spielberg picture. Since the introduction of multi-currency regimes,tellers across the board have complained of being neglected. they have compalined about not receiving the proper attention that they think they deserve.  Tellers say they are the face  of the bank,they are the first and the last faces that anybody who walks into the bank and out of the bank sees for the last time,thats the image that they walk out with.  Banks that have gone through this are among others are ZB bank,Metropolitan Bank,and Stanbic Bank. Stanbic was hit twice,in Bulawayo, and in Gweru. Next week we will bring the full stories folks

LIQUIDITY CRUNCH! WHOSE

We are  told everyday of our lives that there is a liquidity crunch. the questions that we ask ourselves is what is this liquidity crunch,why do our cabinet meet and discuss this big worded entity,what do they come up with.  According to Wikipedia,a credit crunch (also known as a credit squeeze or credit crisis) is a reduction in the general availability of  loans(or credit) or a sudden tightening of the conditions required to obtain a loan from the banks. A credit crunch generally involves a reduction in the availability of credit independent of a rise in official interest rates. In such situations, the relationship between credit availability and interest rates has implicitly changed, such that either credit becomes less available at any given official interest rate, or there ceases to be a clear relationship between interest rates and credit availability (i.e. credit rationing occurs). Many times, a credit crunch is accompanied by a flight to quality by lenders and investors, as they seek less risky investments (often at the expense of small to medium size enterprises). Zimbabwe is going through one of these "credit cruches" and it is the ordinary man who is feeling the bite. It is the ordinary woman who in need of fending for her family dies trying. It is these economic terms and situations that force an ordinary man to resort to unothordox  means for survival. The  question is for how long are we going to live from hand to mouth.

WHOSE INTERESTS ARE BEING SERVED

Often everyday of our lives,we go through them without realising the earthly forces that govern our actions,that hinders our progress and abilities. This is not right.

Sometimes our talents are never realised or they die in their infancy. These forces are the centre of our existence and when the centre falls sick,we catch the bug too. When the centre stutters and falters,we also stutter and falter. Im talking of banks ladies and gentleman. These are the animals that we created hoping we could  tame them...instead they are now the masters of our future "destinies".

From Madrid to Mkandla,from Buenos Aries to Bulawayo,from Saigon to Seattle,banks have become the new nemesis after the HIV/AIDS pandemic. They have become the rulers of this world with the corporate boys telling us what to do, including those that wield political power,they are wiped into line when they talk to their bank managers. It is this unlimited powers that they have,  that lead to them abusing them and in turn abuse us. They take us into recessions when their egocentric selves fail to  read their numbers correctly. When they are in a messy,they come to us again for bailouts,begging us to feel sorry for them and give them our hard earned cash.

When an ordinary Sipho goes to them looking for a mortgage,what do they do? they start telling poor Sipho that he is not eligible because of so many reasons that when Sipho comes out of the bank he will be so confused and dejected he wont know what to do. But before he goes out of the bank,they will give him their first requirement...,"Sipho come bank with us and we will definately do something for you..". He is hooked by the soft speaking bank manager who needs to meet his targets. Sipho does not know this.

The title of this piece asked us a question that whose interests are being served ladies and gentleman. Banks are a selfish capitalist system that does not care about anything except three things. They care about profits,profits and profits. After this, its giving the executives "dirty" bonuses. After the bonuses they start crying of liquidity crunch,that they caused,then they want us to bail them out.
I say its high time we start following the way banks in the Muslim world operates. It is a tight system designed  with utmost precision to guide against the evil temptations of money. It seems capitalism have always failed us,will continue failing us and its high time we tame this animal before it sucks out our lives. I have absolutely nothing against capitalism, i just think it a wrong system all together