JUST IN: President speaks on currency

Farirai Machivenyika Senior Reporter
Government has adopted policies that will result in the re-introduction of a local currency as it is the only way a country can develop, President Mnangagwa has said.

President Mnangagwa said this while addressing Southlea Park residents in Harare after taking part in this month’s clean-up campaign at Candy Shopping Centre. He said the multi-currency regime had been adopted to deal with the hyper-inflation experienced between 2008 and 2009 but should not be maintained going into the future.

“Between 2008 and 2009 our country’s currency lost value and some people became billionaires or trillionaires due to high inflation,” President Mnangagwa said.

“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 not continue going forward without our own currency. 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).

He added that when the local currency is re-introduced it would no longer be possible to use foreign currency while transacting locally

More to follow…