Zimbabwe to use SA rand permanently

  1. Posted on Thursday 4 June 2009 - 10:40
    ronny zikhali
    Ronny Zikhali, AfricaNews reporter in Harare, Zimbabwe
    Zimbabwe's minister of finance, Tendai Biti, has announced that the fragile government of that country is considering the idea of using the South African rand as it's permanent official currency. "We are looking at various avenues and the adoption of the rand is likelihood," he said.
    south africa rand
    By so declaring, the minister could be suggesting that Zimbabwe would soon enter the Rand Monetary zone which currently has Lesotho, Swaziland and some parts of southern Africa.

    Biti said among the options is the use of Rand, a re-denomination of the Zimbabwe dollar or continuing with the current multiple currency system.

    He affirmed that this decision may come into effect before the fall of summer. Biti, who is an economic lawyer, said he believes that the Rand would help maintain consistency in the pricing of goods and services.

    An emotional but serious Biti added: “As the monetary authorities we believe the use of a single currency might combat unscrupulous business acts which were characteristic of the recent months since we came into government.

    We have noticed that the business community especially in Bulawayo has come up with their own exchange rates,” said Minister Biti.

    To the contrary, Biti was not in a position to comment on how he intends to talk to the South African monetary authorities over this issue.

    It is specified requirement under South African law that any country that officialises the Rand as its currency must do so through permission from its Finance authorities.

    If Biti and his ministry conclude their currency deliberations and adopt the Rand eventually, it would spell doom for the Zanu PF hardliners who are not in favour of this arrangement.

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