Zimbabwe says no plans to introduce new currency
Zimbabwe reserve bank and the country’s information ministry have been forced to deny rumours that a new national currency is being introduced.
“This has no base in fact or reality,” the information ministry said in a tweet, adding, “this needs to be dismissed with the contempt it deserves.”
“The country shall continue to use the multi-currency system,” the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe confirmed.
Bond notes, which can only be traded in Zimbabwe, were introduced in 2016. They were brought in because of a shortage of US dollars and South African rand – the main currencies in daily use after rampant inflation killed off the old Zimbabwean dollar in 2009.
But inflation means that bond notes are losing their value – and many people prefer to US dollars or EcoCash, a mobile phone payment system. (BBC)