20°C / 22°C
  • Thu
  • 16°C
  • 4°C
  • Fri
  • 18°C
  • 8°C
  • Sat
  • 19°C
  • 9°C
  • Sun
  • 21°C
  • 10°C
  • Mon
  • 22°C
  • 11°C
  • Thu
  • 17°C
  • 13°C
  • Fri
  • 18°C
  • 13°C
  • Sat
  • 20°C
  • 13°C
  • Sun
  • 23°C
  • 15°C
  • Mon
  • 21°C
  • 14°C
  • Thu
  • 18°C
  • 6°C
  • Fri
  • 21°C
  • 9°C
  • Sat
  • 22°C
  • 11°C
  • Sun
  • 22°C
  • 11°C
  • Mon
  • 24°C
  • 12°C
  • Thu
  • 16°C
  • 1°C
  • Fri
  • 19°C
  • 4°C
  • Sat
  • 20°C
  • 6°C
  • Sun
  • 22°C
  • 8°C
  • Mon
  • 23°C
  • 8°C
  • Thu
  • 21°C
  • 12°C
  • Fri
  • 25°C
  • 16°C
  • Sat
  • 21°C
  • 16°C
  • Sun
  • 25°C
  • 16°C
  • Mon
  • 26°C
  • 19°C
  • Thu
  • 21°C
  • 12°C
  • Fri
  • 17°C
  • 12°C
  • Sat
  • 17°C
  • 11°C
  • Sun
  • 25°C
  • 15°C
  • Mon
  • 21°C
  • 15°C
  • Thu
  • 14°C
  • 11°C
  • Fri
  • 19°C
  • 12°C
  • Sat
  • 24°C
  • 11°C
  • Sun
  • 26°C
  • 13°C
  • Mon
  • 24°C
  • 11°C
  • Thu
  • 16°C
  • 12°C
  • Fri
  • 18°C
  • 12°C
  • Sat
  • 21°C
  • 11°C
  • Sun
  • 24°C
  • 14°C
  • Mon
  • 22°C
  • 12°C
  • Thu
  • 19°C
  • 5°C
  • Fri
  • 23°C
  • 8°C
  • Sat
  • 23°C
  • 9°C
  • Sun
  • 23°C
  • 10°C
  • Mon
  • 25°C
  • 11°C
  • Thu
  • 15°C
  • -2°C
  • Fri
  • 18°C
  • 1°C
  • Sat
  • 20°C
  • 4°C
  • Sun
  • 22°C
  • 6°C
  • Mon
  • 23°C
  • 6°C
  • Thu
  • 23°C
  • 6°C
  • Fri
  • 28°C
  • 8°C
  • Sat
  • 24°C
  • 9°C
  • Sun
  • 27°C
  • 10°C
  • Mon
  • 29°C
  • 10°C
  • Thu
  • 18°C
  • 12°C
  • Fri
  • 16°C
  • 11°C
  • Sat
  • 17°C
  • 10°C
  • Sun
  • 22°C
  • 14°C
  • Mon
  • 19°C
  • 13°C
Go

Zimbabweans queue as central bank releases $30mn into market

Until now, the majority of Zimbabweans have been using debit cards or mobile phones to pay for goods but are sometimes forced to pay higher prices if they don't have cash.

A woman with cash in hand walks past fellow bank customers queing to withdraw the new Zimbabwe currency in Harare on 12 November 2019. Picture: AFP
A woman with cash in hand walks past fellow bank customers queing to withdraw the new Zimbabwe currency in Harare on 12 November 2019. Picture: AFP
| 198 days ago

HARARE - Long queues have formed outside banks in Zimbabwe on Tuesday after the central bank released $30 million worth of new banknotes and coins onto the market.

Until now, the majority of Zimbabweans have been using debit cards or mobile phones to pay for goods but are sometimes forced to pay higher prices if they don't have cash.

Zimbabweans are desperate to get their hands on physical money; given that using it to pay for goods can get one a discount.

It’s hoped these new banknotes and coins, worth R2 and R5, will help to wean Zimbabweans off the use of the US dollar, which was banned for local transactions in June.

Customers are being limited to weekly withdrawals of just 300 Zimbabwe dollars. The authorities hope to release up to $1 billion worth of the new money in the coming months.

Some economists warn though that this new cash will likely end up trapped in the vast informal sector, whose operators don’t bank their takings.

More in Africa

Comments

EWN welcomes all comments that are constructive, contribute to discussions in a meaningful manner and take stories forward.

However, we will NOT condone the following:

- Racism (including offensive comments based on ethnicity and nationality)
- Sexism
- Homophobia
- Religious intolerance
- Cyber bullying
- Hate speech
- Derogatory language
- Comments inciting violence.

We ask that your comments remain relevant to the articles they appear on and do not include general banter or conversation as this dilutes the effectiveness of the comments section.

We strive to make the EWN community a safe and welcoming space for all.

EWN reserves the right to: 1) remove any comments that do not follow the above guidelines; and, 2) ban users who repeatedly infringe the rules.

Should you find any comments upsetting or offensive you can also flag them and we will assess it against our guidelines.

EWN is constantly reviewing its comments policy in order to create an environment conducive to constructive conversations.

comments powered by Disqus
COPYRIGHT 2020 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | Terms & Conditions | Privacy | PAIA