Zim To Have Its Own Currency By Year-End Says Mnangagwa

President Emmerson Mnangagwa earlier today confirmed that Zimbabwe will re-introduce a local currency before 2019 is over.

The President said the multi-currency system was no longer necessary as it was adopted to solve the problems of a decade ago:

Between 2008 and 2009 our country’s currency lost value and some people became billionaires or trillionaires due to high inflation.

At the time Government decided to adopt the multi-currency regime where we started using, the US dollar, Rand, the British Pound or Pula for transacting.

It was a policy measure to address the challenges that were being faced then. We, however, cannot continue going forward without our own currency.

President ED

Mnangagwa also said it’s not possible for the Zimbabwean economy to develop whilst we depend on currencies belonging to other countries:

South Africa has its own currency and when you go there with the US dollar or Euro you would have to convert it to the Rand before you can transact.

The same applies to Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique and the UK. A country cannot develop using other nations’ currency.

A currency is only printed by its owners and the only way to get it is through exports, Diaspora remittances or foreign investments but as a country, we should have our own currency and we have embarked on that journey (to have a local currency).

The idea of Zimbabwe introducing a new currency is not new as the Finance Minister admitted as much back in April. Back when the RTGS dollars were introduced in February, many thought this was the government taking a subtle route to introduce a new currency but it seems that was not the case at all.

In January, South Africa’s Finance Minister also made it clear that he felt it would be good for Zimbabwe to reintroduce a local currency, whilst suggesting that South Africa had given some input in this new currency.

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