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HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's central bank has ordered the country's banks to stopprocessing mineral exports by Impala Platinum's local unit, which it accuses of failing to comply with an order tobank locally, a state newspaper said on Friday. A spokeswoman for Zimplats, which is 87 percent owned by the SouthAfrican miner, told the state-controlled Herald that the directivewas unnecessary because the company had complied with theinstructions. Central bank governor Gideon Gono said Zimplats had defied hisdirective, issued in February, to transfer funds from its offshoreaccounts to Zimbabwean banks, the newspaper reported. "Due to failure by Zimplats to adhere with the provisions of thisdirective ... exchange control has taken corrective measures toenforce compliance," the central bank said in a letter quoted bythe newspaper. "In this regard, authorised dealers (banks) are hereby advised tostop processing and facilitating international or any cross-borderpayments on behalf of Zimplats... and to stop facilitating anyexports ... on behalf of Zimplats." Zimplats was not immediately available to comment, but itsspokeswoman Busi Chindove told the paper: "We must say we weresurprised because in reality Zimplats had no objection to theinitial communication by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe." "To this end, the company is now paying for 75 percent of itsexpenditure in Zimbabwe. The remaining 25 percent relates to ...foreign loans that were raised with the knowledge, support andapproval of the monetary authorities." If implemented, the central bank move would paralyse Zimplats'exports, which account for 25 percent of Zimbabwe's total mineralexports, according to official figures. Zimplats contributes 10 percent to its parent's annual output. Zimbabwe ordered foreign mining firms to deposit their exportearnings with local banks as the government aimed to address adollar crunch afflicting its economy. Foreign firms have come under pressure from President RobertMugabe's government, which is championing an empowerment drive totransfer majority stakes to locals. In March, Impala Platinum, the world's second largest platinumminer, bowed to pressure and said it would surrender a 51 percentstake in Zimplats to local black investors. The world's largest platinum producer, Anglo American Platinum, and Rio Tinto , which runs a diamond mine, are among the major internationalfirms operating in Zimbabwe. Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved SUBSCRIBE to Mineweb.com's free daily newsletter now. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Pixim Cameras , IP Network CCTV Camera, and more. For more , please visit CCTV Camera Housing today!
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