Zimbabwe currency
Zim lawyer challenges govt’s decision to ban foreign currency
Godfrey Mupanga said the country’s laws allowed for the use of multiple currencies, and this could only be reversed by Parliament.
On Monday, Zimbabwe declared its interim RTGS dollar the only legal tender, ending the decade-long use of multiple currencies including the US dollar.
Mnangagwa, who replaced longtime leader Robert Mugabe after an army coup in November 2017, is trying to attract investment and lift growth after a litany of failed economic interventions under his predecessor.
The Real Time Gross Settlement dollar was introduced by the government on 22 February as the first step towards a new currency by year-end.
Most Zimbabweans were using local electronic RTGS dollars introduced in February, but the currency lost value against the US dollar, leading to massive price hikes and high inflation.
The economy grew higher than expected in 2018, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube told Parliament.
Zimbabweans had hoped the end of Robert Mugabe’s rule in 2017 would change their economic fortunes but have instead watched as a severe dollar crunch hobbles businesses.
Business people and economists welcomed last week’s decision to abandon an unrealistic dollar peg for the country’s surrogate bond notes and electronic dollars.
Currency specialist at Ironhead Trading, Tim Nhamo, weighs in on whether Zimbabwe should join South Africa as part of a monetary union.
Zimbabwe is more than doubling its issuance of 'bond notes', a domestic quasi-currency, to $500 million, its central bank governor said.
Local banks have been forced to limit withdrawals due to cash shortages while importers face long delays in paying for goods they bring in, forcing some businesses to buy dollars on the parallel market.
Patrick Chinamasa has acknowledged that the new bond notes aren’t meeting the current demand.
The notes start circulating at the end of next month and will be in denominations of $2 and $5.
If the minister’s plans are supported, 25,000 government workers will lose their jobs.
Army commander Philip Sibanda says information & communication technology are weapons of war.
People marched in Harare against the government’s plans to introduce local bank notes.