Zimbabwe returns to foreign currencies

Zimbabwe has reintroduced the use of foreign currencies for domestic transactions in order to tackle the public health crisis caused by the coronavirus.

The decision was announced on Thursday and is expected to give the country access to private foreign exchange savings. The country’s central bank has also reduced its lending rate from 35% to 25% and set a fixed exchange rate as part of a raft of measures to support the economy against the pandemic. 

Zimbabwe banned the use of foreign currency in June last year, reintroducing the local Zimbabwe dollar after ten years of relying on US dollars South African rand. 

John Mangudya, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, said he expected merchant banks to pass on the cut in lending rates to their customers.

So far Zimbabwe has recorded five cases of coronavirus, including one death.

The country is facing a long-standing health-sector crisis, with doctors only just having returned to work after a lengthy strike over low wages and poor working conditions. 

On Wednesday, junior doctors stopped working again, citing a lack of protective equipment which was putting them at risk of contracting the coronavirus. 

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