A man poses with Zimbabwe’s new two dollar banknote as customers queue outside a bank in Harare, Zimbabwe, November 12, 2019. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
HARARE, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s government will maintain its multi-currency system, anchored by the U.S. dollar, to 2030, it said on Friday.
The government had previously said that the multi-currency system would end in 2025. This had triggered uncertainty in the banking sector, with some banks refusing to give loans past 2025.
In a government gazette, President Emmerson Mnangagwa repealed the 2019 order which had given 2025 as a deadline.
“Settlement of any transaction or payment for goods and services in foreign currency, shall … be valid until the 31st December, 2030,” reads the gazette.
Economists say nearly 80% of local transactions are in U.S. dollars amid waning confidence in the Zimbabwean dollar.
Zimbabwe abandoned its inflation-ravaged dollar in 2009, opting instead to use foreign currencies, mostly the U.S. dollar. The government reintroduced the local currency in 2019, but it rapidly lost value again.
Despite repeated efforts by authorities to boost confidence, the Zimdollar has weakened by over 80% this year, according to economists.
Reporting by Nyasha Chingono; Editing by Nellie Peyton and Rod Nickel
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