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Zimbabwe currency

Tendai Biti, the Finance Minister of Zimbabwe said that despite recent measures taken by the government to prevent the country's harvest of rough diamonds being smuggled out of the country, he anticipates that it will continue to occur, Rough and Polished reports.

 

Zimbabwe's tax collection agency recently commenced supervision of diamond mining operations throughout the country in an attempt to ensure that all mined gems are accounted for. Monitoring groups have claimed that diamond companies are working in conjunction with elements in the Zimbabwe army to keep some precious stones off the books and truck them in secrecy to countries with which the country shares a border in order to profit from their sale without having to remit taxes for them.

 

Biti clarified that the work of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority would help increase transparency in the country's diamond industry, but that smugglers are so sophisticated that they will likely still manage to elude the watchful eyes of the authorities, according to Rough and Polished.