HARARE – There are unconfirmed reports claiming that Zimbabwe will have a new currency within the next month.
The online publication quoted sources close to the developments revealed that the currency was printed in March 2018 and is being kept safely at the vaults by the Central Bank.
The currency could not be introduced last year due to a number of political factors and confidence boost but the currency is likely to be launched within the next month. The new currency will be backed by gold and that government has been purchasing the gold through Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR).
While addressing the Global Shapers Community meeting held at the Celebration Center two weeks ago, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said:
We should be close to currency reforms. It will happen by stealth because we can’t. Currency reforms started in October 2018 but we didn’t have fiscal discipline in place. We won’t capitulate to the USD but have currency reforms. We are less than 12 months away from currency reforms.
In an interview with Bloomberg in Davos, Switzerland on Monday, Ncube said that a lot needs to be done before the country adopts a new currency. Said Ncube:
A lot needs to be done before the introduction of the Zimbabwean currency, which first of all is fiscal discipline, making sure we bring the budget deficit into single digits and that runaway Government expenditure is curtailed.
