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Suspended ZimDollar is old fashioned declares Biti
21 Mar 2012 at 11:36hrs | Views
HARARE - Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Tendai Biti has declared that the suspended Zimbabwean dollar is old fashioned and it has no demand therefore the country will continue with the use of multi-currencies.
Biti was addressing a mixture of local and international investors at the ongoing Euromoney-Zimbabwe Investment Conference in Harare.
"The Zimbabwean dollar is old fashioned and the market for it is for the people in Zimbabwe. We are looking at a regional currency which will be pushed through the SADC market as the local demand is weak," said Biti.
After the Zimbabwean dollar was suspended in 2008, the country adopted a multi-currency regime, which includes the use of the U.S. dollar, the South African rand and the Botswana pula.
Zanu PF made a resolution at its annual conference in December last year to force the coalition government to restore use of the abandoned local unit, citing shortages of foreign exchange on the domestic
market.
However, business backs Biti on the extension of multiple currencies despite limited capital inflows.
Central Bank governor, Gideon Gono last week said there was urgent need for the country to have its own currency.
Gono said apart from the current other currencies circulating the Chinese Yuan is also welcomed as long as there is demand for it.
Before the inception of the multiple currency regime in 2009, long queues at banks were the order of the day throughout the country as people patiently waited to access defunct Zimbabwe dollar notes.
So dire was the situation that upon accessing bundles of trillion dollar notes from the bank, one found it difficult to even buy a loaf of bread as the currency's value depreciated by the minute.
At one time inflation topped 231 million percent.
Biti also pleaded with potential investors to view the country as a normal society that could "achieve wonders".
"I want you to think of Zimbabwe as a total normal society. What we can achieve when we can have a $1billion $2billion $3 billion of overseas development assistance,I would submit that we would achieve wonders" said Biti.
Biti was addressing a mixture of local and international investors at the ongoing Euromoney-Zimbabwe Investment Conference in Harare.
"The Zimbabwean dollar is old fashioned and the market for it is for the people in Zimbabwe. We are looking at a regional currency which will be pushed through the SADC market as the local demand is weak," said Biti.
After the Zimbabwean dollar was suspended in 2008, the country adopted a multi-currency regime, which includes the use of the U.S. dollar, the South African rand and the Botswana pula.
Zanu PF made a resolution at its annual conference in December last year to force the coalition government to restore use of the abandoned local unit, citing shortages of foreign exchange on the domestic
market.
However, business backs Biti on the extension of multiple currencies despite limited capital inflows.
Central Bank governor, Gideon Gono last week said there was urgent need for the country to have its own currency.
Gono said apart from the current other currencies circulating the Chinese Yuan is also welcomed as long as there is demand for it.
Before the inception of the multiple currency regime in 2009, long queues at banks were the order of the day throughout the country as people patiently waited to access defunct Zimbabwe dollar notes.
So dire was the situation that upon accessing bundles of trillion dollar notes from the bank, one found it difficult to even buy a loaf of bread as the currency's value depreciated by the minute.
At one time inflation topped 231 million percent.
Biti also pleaded with potential investors to view the country as a normal society that could "achieve wonders".
"I want you to think of Zimbabwe as a total normal society. What we can achieve when we can have a $1billion $2billion $3 billion of overseas development assistance,I would submit that we would achieve wonders" said Biti.
Source - Byo24News
