Zimbabwe plans new currency to stem soaring inflation

The Zimbabwean government has said it plans to introduce a new currency which would have denominations with a maximum value of $0.25.

This was revealed on Tuesday by Zimbabwe’s central bank chief, John Mangudya, who said he would introduce a new currency in the next two weeks to address biting liquidity shortages in the economy.

Mangudya, who noted that the new currency would enable the economy regain monetary policy control after years of “dollarisation,” added that the new currency would trade along with bond notes and coins.

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Speaking with journalists in Harare, Mangudya said: “We are going to release money into circulation. To be precise, within the next two weeks, we will have the new currency.”

The central bank chief, who defended the decision, said the focus now is ensure the uniformity of the new currency with the denominations that are already in the market.

Zimbabwe’s “dollarised” economy which came about in 2009 when soaring inflation prompted the country to ditch its failing sovereign currency in favour of a basket of foreign currencies led by the United States dollar hit a major bump in 2015 when greenbacks started vanishing from the formal banking system.

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