HARARE – Zimbabwe has declared its interim currency, the RTGS dollar, the country’s sole legal tender with effect from Monday, according to a government notice published on Monday.
“The British pound, United States dollar, South African rand Botswana pula and any other foreign currency whatsoever shall no longer be legal tender alongside the Zimbabwe dollar in any transactions in Zimbabwe,” the notice said.
David Coltart, the treasurer general of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change said: “This is sheer, unadulterated madness. The market has been redollarising precisely because of the lack of confidence in the RTGS dollar.
“You cannot force people to love a currency. They either do or they don’t. This will greatly exacerbate the current chaos.”
Zimbabweans with existing foreign currency accounts will be allowed to keep their balances in foreign currency, the notice said.
Customs duty will be payable in United States dollars, and international airlines will be allowed to demand payment in foreign currency.
The RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) dollar was introduced by the government on February 22 as the first step towards a new currency by year-end.
However, by last week it had plunged 60 percent against the U.S. dollar and some Zimbabweans complain that many goods and services are still priced in foreign currencies, mainly the dollar and the rand.
Zimbabwe adopted the U.S. dollar as its official currency in 2009, when most Zimbabweans had already ditched the hyperinflation-wrecked Zimbabwe dollar.
Analysts fear the same situation repeating itself with the interim currency. In May year-on-year inflation soared to 97.85 percent and fuel prices have been climbing steadily, up more than 150 percent since the beginning of the year.
