Zimbabwe faces shortage of its Zimdollar

Source: Zimbabwe faces shortage of its Zimdollar | CGTN Africa

Reports from Zimbabwe indicate that there is a shortage of notes in the country with many people allegedly queuing in the banks to get hold of the Zimdollars also known as “zollers”.

Physical Zimdollar notes have become increasingly scarce since they became Zimbabwe’s sole legal tender in June. It is claimed that banks are rationing them.

Most people in Zimbabwe are now opting to go to the black market as to acquire the notes.

A shortage of cold, hard cash has dogged Zimbabwe for years.

Back in 2009, soaring inflation prompted Zimbabwe to ditch its failing sovereign currency in favour of a basket of foreign currencies led by the US dollar. But “dollarising” the economy hit a major bump in 2015 when greenbacks started vanishing from the formal banking system.

In a bid to end the US dollar shortage, Zimbabwe’s central bank introduced bond notes – a form of surrogate currency – that was backed by a $200 million bond facility from the Africa Export-Import Bank.

But black market speculation quickly eroded the bond note value, triggering a shortage that the central bank tried to offset by creating electronic notes.

Most Zimbabweans are now hoping that a new currency set to be introduced, will help ease the current shortage of cash.