Zimbabweans will start exchanging
“quadrillions” of local dollars for a
few US dollars next week as
President Robert Mugabe’s
government discards its virtually
worthless national currency.
The southern African country started
using foreign currencies including
the US dollar and South African rand
in 2009 after the Zimbabwean dollar
was ruined by hyperinflation, which
hit 500 billion per cent in 2008.At the height of the country’s economic crisis, Zimbabweans had to
carry plastic bags bulging with banknotes to buy basic goods. Prices were rising at least twice a day.
From Monday, customers who held Zimbabwean dollar accounts before
March 2009 can approach their banks to convert their balance into US dollars, the governor of the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe , John Mangudya, said in a statement.Zimbabweans have until September to turn in their old banknotes, which some people sell as souvenirs to tourists.
Bank accounts with balances of up to 175 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars will be paid $5. Those with balances above 175 quadrillion dollars will be paid at an exchange rate of $1 for 35 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars.
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