Thinking of asking the Ministry of Finance some questions? They gave us their number

I’m not going to lie these are interesting times. Just last week the RBZ was crowdsourcing thoughts and ideas on a Central Bank Digital Currency that they are working on. Now the top office that is the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has shared its WhatsApp contact numbers that anyone can use to reach out to them.

MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
PUBLIC NOTICE
MINISTRY WHATSAPP NUMBERS

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, is pleased to advise stakeholders that the Ministry is now accessible and reachable via WhatsApp on the following numbers.

1. +263 719 567 051 and
2. +263 719 567 113

Kindly please note that the numbers will be used exclusively for WhatsApp messaging and SMS texting only. Phone calls are strictly not allowed and the Public is advised to use normal Ministry of Finance and Economic Development contact details indicated below.

The platforms will be used for consultation purposes, surveys and for general engagement with stakeholders. Further. stakeholders can also use the platforms to make enquiries and queries on services rendered by the Ministry as well as to share feedback on Ministry services and programmes.

The Ministry has provided these platforms out of the realisation that we need to provide diverse communication channels to ensure that no one is left behind as we progress on our journey towards Vision 2030.

MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
16 November 2022

Availability

In case anyone was curious, no, the number is not managed by a bot. It is run by humans and the availability of the number is 9am to 6pm from Monday to Friday and out of commission on weekends. It’s also strictly for WhatsApp as mentioned in their press statement.

There was once a time when access to such offices was reserved for individuals of elevated social standing. Now it’s coming more open to more members of the public. It’s still yet to be seen whether or not it will be a channel providing useful assistance to the public it’s meant to serve. Try it out and comment your experience.=techzim