Zimbabwe relaunches currency after being taken off the market a decade ago

Many countries across the globe have been going through economic turmoil, and that has also had adverse effects on their political and social climate. Zimbabwe has been one such country where inflation has been ongoing, and the supervising government did not take any stringent measures to fix it. In the wake of the surmounting hyperinflation, the country decided to bring back the Zimdollars that was discontinued back in 2009.

The currency was first stopped in 2009 because of the rising inflation, and this time around, it comes back right after the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe adopted an international currency basked to stabilize the crumbling economy. The recently adopted RTGS was meant to create a currency in parity with the dollar.

The decision had left the society in splits after some argued that the new peg would almost erase the value of existing cash holdings. The concept of the Zimdollar had first been accepted earlier this year, and Wednesday’s hard cash release comes after multiple delays and problems in customer allocation.

On ground analysis of the situation shows that most of the customers are not happy with the amount the government has been handing out. A school teacher who had taken out some hard cash had said that the limit is around 300 dollars per week, which “does not even last for a day.”

A look at the market rates might show why she was so concerned about the allowance rate. At the moment, a loaf of bread costs 15 dollars, a kilogram of meat costs 160 dollars while a pack of potatoes goes for 100 dollars. The situation has become so grave in Zimbabwe that over 5 million citizens depend on the government for aid. With the launch of the new notes, President Mnangagwa believes that it will bolster the economy and also empower the citizens of the country. He further added:

“Right now people are being pained by the ever increasing prices in shops, it is because we are in a transition. We are transitioning from the low levels and we need to resuscitate our economy.We have no choice but to resuscitate our economy. ln that process, we have some people who want to take advantage to profiteer.”

He continued:

“You were not getting money from the banks, but on Monday (tomorrow) we are going to inject more money in the banks until we reach a level where you lose appetite to go and get cash from EcoCash.”

The country’s citizens have been using mobile payment applications like EcoCash and even Bitcoin for some time now, and the President’s latest words are targeted to those assets. Only further developments will tell if the country is moving away from decentralized assets or whether there is an ace up its sleeve.

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