HARARE, May 21 (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s RTGS dollar currency on Tuesday traded 31% weaker against the U.S. dollar on the official interbank market, its biggest one-day fall since Feb 22, traders said.
The slide came a day after the central bank announced an end to a subsidy on fuel imports and said oil companies would now buy U.S. dollars on the open interbank market at the prevailing exhange rate.
Zimbabwe’s energy regulator on Tuesday announced that prices of diesel and petrol had been increased by up to 47% effective immediately, a day after the central bank said oil firms would now buy dollars to import fuel on the interbank market.
The latest price increase had been expected and follows an earlier 150% hike in January, which sparked violent street protests and led to the death of a dozen people after a security crackdown.
