"Zimbabwe Would Need 5 Years To Fully De-Dollarise," - RBZ

The governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Dr John Mangudya on Monday projected that Zimbabwe’s de-dollarisation process would be completed in five years.

He said the remarks while presenting the country’s 2020 first half Monetary Policy Statement during which he also claimed that the use of the local currency for domestic transactions had improved.

The bank believes that the macro-economic signals that include fiscal and monetary discipline, prospects of positive economic growth and lower inflation are improving to support a gradual de-dollarisation process within a time-frame of five years.

In June 2019, Zimbabwe through Statutory Instrument (SI) 142 of 2019, banned the use of all foreign currencies on domestic transactions. The SI also reintroduced the local currency which had been ditched in 2009 following hyperinflation that reached a 231 million per cent record high.

Businesses have however not welcomed the transition as they are still charging their commodities in foreign currencies particularly the United States dollar and the South African Rand.

They assert that the local currency which is constantly shedding value against other currencies is not sustainable for business.

More: The Insider