ZCZC
BCN-17
ZIMBABWE-CURRENCY
Zimbabwe to re-introduce local currency within a year: minister
HARARE, Jan 12, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Zimbabwe will re-introduce a local currency
“in less than 12 months”, after using the US dollar and regional currencies
since a hyperinflation crisis a decade ago, the finance minister said in an
interview published on Saturday.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took over from long-time ruler Robert
Mugabe and won a disputed election in July, has pledged to revive the economy
and mend fences with former allies in the west after years of international
isolation.
“On the issue of raising enough foreign currency to introduce the new
currency, we are on our way already, give us months not years,” state-owned
Herald newspaper quoted Finance Minister Mtuli Ncube as saying.
Asked for a timeline for the currency reform, the minister said it would be
in “less than 12 months”.
Zimbabwe adopted a basket of foreign currencies in 2009 after
hyperinflation, which saw some businesses increasing prices several times a
day, rendered the local Zimbabwe dollar unusable.
The southern African nation’s economy has been in a downturn for more than
a decade with shortages of cash, high unemployment and the government
struggling to pay its workers.
The country was thrown into panic after Ncube introduced a two percent tax
on all electronic transactions as part of new measures to increase revenue.
Shortages of basic commodities resurfaced and prices shot up – and in some
cases more than doubled within weeks.
The shortages hit pharmacies with some running out of essential drugs for
chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension and accepting payment only
in foreign currency.
Motorists spend hours in long queues waiting to buy fuel. Doctors in state
hospitals went on strike for more than a month in December saying the price
hikes had eroded their earnings and teachers announced a strike this week
demanding to be paid in US dollars.
BSS/AFP/SR/1845 HRS