There's the US dollar and the Zimbabwean dollar. But
which dollar reigns supreme in the Southern African nation as
some countries attempt to shift away from us dollar dependence
in their own financial systems. Zimbabwe has been unable
to shake off its reliance on it. US dollars
were used for 77% of transactions in Zimbabwe this year
making it the most used currency. According to a
statistics agency, businesses and locals are opting for USD
to pay for everything from food to fuel, passports
to tolls and medicines and school fees, even disputes
about salary hikes by civil servants and compensation for white
farmers thrown out of their land center around the US
dollar. That's clearly a departure from what the government
had intended back in 2019 when it reintroduced the Zim
Dollar in an effort to revive the economy. The
currency had been deemed worthless and abolished in 2009 in
favor of other regional currencies like the South African Rand
in the past few years though, it's depreciated 91%
against the dollar making it one of the worst performing
currencies in the world. The US currency is so
dominant in Zimbabwe that it's recently become legal tender de
by the adoption of a new blended index to measure
inflation. There's also a new US Dollar denominated Stock
Exchange which is currently outperforming the Zs. The economic
challenges are clearly mounting for Zimbabwe ahead of elections in
August, threatening to overshadow even successes in sectors such
as mining. Here's what the country's finance Minister recently
told us Zimbabwe is clear. The currency for transaction
in Zimbabwe is not just the Zimbabwe dollar, it's
also a US dollar. It's also dominantly the US
dollar. Perfect. It is the US dollar.
Nothing wrong with that. We as a government have
said use the US dollar as part of the domestic
currency agenda. So we are very comfortable with what's
going on.