Zimbabwe Traders Revert To The Banned Foreign Currency
Zimbabwean traders are reportedly trading using the banned foreign currency citing the rapid rate at which the local currency is shedding value against other currencies.
The Standard notes that most businesses in Manicaland were trading in the South African Rand although saying most of the residents had the Rand from their beloved ones in South Africa.
The publication further reports that businesses, however, give their customers the local currency as change.
One trader in Chisumbanje who spoke to the Standard said:
We don’t have an option here. We get rand from our customers and we give them change in Zimbabwe dollar. Ecocash or mobile money transactions are not popular here.
In June last year, the government introduced Statutory Instrument 142 which banned the use of all foreign currencies for domestic transactions.
Through the same SI, the Zimbabwe dollar was reintroduced and was made the sole legal tender. The move was castigated by several analysts who observed that authorities had not created a conducive environment first.
More: The Standard
