Zimbabwe’s central bank will introduce bond notes, a token currency which will circulate within a basket of multiple currencies, at the end of October with $75 million worth of the notes expected to be in circulation by the end of the year, the central bank governor announced on Thursday.
Presenting his mid-term monetary policy statement in Harare, governor John Mangudya said the Bank will start with $2 and $5 notes, according to Reuters.
The central bank plans to introduce the bond notes in a bid to ease a shortage of bank notes blamed on a widening trade gap and the smuggling out of physical US dollars, Zimbabwe’s adopted currency since it dumped its inflation-ravaged currency in 2009.
The RBZ has indicated that the bond notes are designed to revive exports, which have dwindled over the years due to the harsh economic situation in the southern African nation.
More details to follow ...