SOUTH African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Tuesday the country's central bank did not supply Zimbabwe with the rand in the financial year ended March 2010.

Gordhan also revealed the impact from the neighbouring country's use of the currency was minimal.

Zimbabwe's government adopted the use of foreign currencies such as the rand and US dollar nearly two years ago, abandoning the local dollar which had been rendered worthless by years of hyperinflation during a decade of economic decline.

"The South African Reserve Bank advises that it did not supply any rands to Zimbabwe in the 2009/10 fiscal or 2010 calendar year, and no official request was received for the supply of rands from Zimbabwean central bank or Zimbabwean Government," Gordhan said.

"The impact on the value of the rand and the money supply growth of the rand arising from the use of rands by Zimbabwe is probably low, given the relatively smaller size of the Zimbabwean economy," he added in a written reply to a question in parliament.

Last year Zimbabwe's industry minister said his government would look into joining rand monetary union as an alternative to the country's existing multiple currency regime.

Under the terms of the union, Namibia, Swaziland and Lesotho all use the South African rand alongside their own currencies.

South Africa has previously said it has not been approached by Harare about adopting the rand as legal tender in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Tendai Biti recently told parliament the government would import coins and lower denomination notes to ease the shortage of coins in the country.

"Treasury will facilitate in 2010 the importation of foreign smaller denominations and coins," he said.

And leading high street banks have already started advertising that they have coins in stock.

The development has eased a nightmare shopping experience for Zimbabweans since the country ditched the local dollar for more stable foreign currencies.

US greenbacks, the South African Rand and the Botswana Pula have since become the most popular currencies.

But because the money is not printed locally, change has proved a perennial problem.

Shops and manufacturers have come up with innovative - and sometimes exasperating - ways of solving the coin shortage: smaller businesses 'rounded up' prices to the nearest dollar while others offered credit notes.

Meanwhile, Biti said the multiple currency regime would stay in place until 2012.