Hiiraan bans counterfeit money, promises food assistance

[Titanium]

Residents in Beledweyne, capital of Somalia's Hiran region, have expressed mixed views on the regional administration's recent ban on the counterfeit money that has been the main tender in some areas for more than a year.

The counterfeit notes were printed on a machine in the Himan and Heeb regional capital of Adado, according to Hiran regional administration Deputy Chairman Khalif Abdi Omar.

The fake money, known as "white notes", differs from banknotes circulating in Mogadishu in the serial numbers and the paper used to print it.

The notes circulated in some areas of Galgadud, Himan and Heeb, and Hiran regions, including Beledweyne, Adado, Dhusamareb and Guriel, for more than a year before the July 25th ban. The city of Abudwak in Galgadud however implemented the ban last year.

"No one regulates this money, and it has no limit because each new car that comes is carrying new money," Omar told Sabahi. "To avoid inflation, we decided to stop [using] the money that is made in Adado and use the money that is used in Mogadishu."

The administration decreed that Hiran region will use money issued by previous transitional federal governments until Somalia's Central Bank is able to manage the national currency, Omar said.

Somalia has lacked both a fully functioning central bank to regulate monetary policy and an official currency circulating nationwide since the collapse of the Mohamed Siad Barre regime in 1991.

Himan and Heeb regional Vice President Abdi Mohammed Ahmed confirmed the counterfeit bills had originated in Adado, and said authorities had disabled the printing machine.

"We have seized the money-printing machine," he told Sabahi. "False money will not be produced there again."

In Hiran, some residents welcomed the ban as a way to prevent inflation, but others said it has brought problems because they are no longer able to buy goods with their money.

Abdirashid Adam Gure, a 50-year-old trader in Beledweyne, said the ban would help improve the region's economy, as fake money has devalued the Somali shilling. Since the ban, the exchange rate for $100 decreased from 3.8 million shillings to 1.9 million shillings in Beledweyne.

"As businesspeople we sell our products using Somali shillings and we want the shilling to have strong value -- therefore, I support the regional administration's ban on counterfeit money," he told Sabahi.

But Abdullahi Ahmed Kheyre, a 45-year-old nomad from Hees village, 60 kilometres east of Beledweyne, said the ban has caused nothing but hardship.

"I brought 120 male goats and sold each one for 2.5 million shillings one day before the money was banned. However, I became destitute when the decision was issued," Kheyre said.

In his view, the authorities should have banned the counterfeit money a lot sooner before it penetrated so deeply into Hiran. "This money did not work when al-Shabaab ruled the city, but it started coming back when the government took over the city," he said. "They could have prevented it."

"The administration did not give us notice, we did not have a few months to get ready, but instead issued the decision and implemented it in one day," Kheyre said. "I have several hundred million under my pillow and yet I have nothing to eat to break my fast tonight."

He called on the federal government to intervene and help the people of Hiran before the situation gets out of hand. "Just look at the problems we have suffered," he said.

Regional authorities decided to impose the ban after consultations with local businesspeople, Omar said, acknowledging that problems have resulted from the ban. He said the decision, however, was intended to preserve the people's future economic interests.

The administration cannot afford to compensate residents for the false money stacked in their homes and stores, but officials will help people in other ways, he said.

"We will raise funds to assist the poor people and at least help them through Ramadan," Omar said