President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe has stated that the government would take steps to slow the fast depreciation of the local currency.
Mnangagwa wrote in the state-run Sunday Mail’s editorial section that the move will involve “steps to enhance trust in the local unit.”
“To avoid disruptions, de-dollarisation will be carefully controlled,” the president added. “This government is committed to maintaining the existing surplus by maintaining a rigorous fiscal policy.”
The southern African country’s currency is officially valued at Z$159.34 to the US dollar, but it may trade for as much as Z$400 on the streets of the city.
Mnangagwa said he met with a team of specialists to analyse and examine the situation “in the aftermath of last week’s currency rate turbulences and increasing movement in pricing.”
“Economies that generate considerably less in terms of exports than we do; import more than we do; have a greater gross domestic product, necessitating more imports; and have larger populations enjoy a more stable currency than we do,” he added.
Zimbabwe’s economy was dollarised between 2009 and 2019, as hyperinflation forced the government to create trillion-Zimbabwe-dollar notes before abandoning the currency, making the country’s name synonymous with economic failure.