HARARE, (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s government will maintain the country’s multi-currency system and legislate the use of the U.S. dollar for the next five years, finance minister Mthuli Ncube said on Monday.
The U.S. dollar is already in use but will now become legal tender to boost confidence, Ncube said at a news conference.
“The market’s lack of confidence in multi-currency is causing us problems, but I’m here to assure you it will remain in place for the next five years,” he said.
Zimbabwe abandoned its inflation-ravaged dollar in 2009, opting instead to use foreign currencies, mostly the U.S. dollar. The government reintroduced the local currency in 2019, but it has rapidly lost value again.
(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono Writing by Bhargav Acharya and Nellie Peyton Editing by James Macharia Chege)
