Zimbabwe bans foreign currency

Finance Minister of Zimbabwe Mthuli Ncube said on Monday, 24 June that foreign currency is no longer acceptable for local transactions; the Zimbabwean dollar is now the only accepted form of currency.

Previously Zimbabwe used a multiple currency regime. The sole legal tender in all transactions is the Zimbabwean dollar as of 24 June 2019.

According to fin24, a statement made in a Statutory Instrument on Monday said that the US Dollar, South African Rand, British Pound, the Botswana Pula and ‘any other foreign currency will no longer be legal tender alongside the Zimbabwean dollar in any transactions in Zimbabwe.’

The statement continued, ‘The opening or operation of foreign currency designated accounts… shall continue to be designated in the foreign currencies with which they are opened and in which they are operated.’

According to fin24, the multiple currency regime, bond notes and RTGS$ currency have been legally sidelined as a result of a gazette signed by Ncube.

The Statutory Instrument, according to fin24, states, ‘The bond notes and RTGS$, that is to say, each bond note unit and each RTGS$, is equivalent to a Zimbabwe dollar; and each hundredth part of a bond note unit and each hundredth part of a RTGS$ is equivalent to a Zimbabwean cent.’