WATCH: Mthuli Ncube says, 'Zimbabwe to introduce new currency 'in next 12 months'

FINANCE minister Mthuli Ncube has revealed that the country will have its own "new, fully-fledged currency" within the next 12 months to ease the cash shortages on the market.

In an interview with United States-based Bloomberg Television yesterday, Ncube also said Zimbabwe will soon introduce a central bank reference rate as part of measures to save the economy from further collapse.

Ncube is in Washington DC, for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank 2019 Spring Meetings, where he hopes to open new lines of credit for the country that is desperate for industrial re-capitalisation.

Ncube said he also hopes to close the gap between the exchange rate for United States dollars in the official and parallel markets using RTGS dollars, which the government introduced in February.

Asked to be specific on timelines of the introduction of the new currency, Ncube was coy.