Zimbabwe rolls out new bank notes, coins

Zimbabwe rolls out new bank notes, coins

NEW MONEY: Zimbabwe's new $10 and $5 bills which went into circulation on Friday, August 1

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• Text of RBZ statement on cash situation and stabilisation measures

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• Mugabe's spokesman says UK harbours wanted fugitives

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• 'Cash baroness' fingers Reserve Bank advisor in Z$10bln bust

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• Zimbabwe woman held with Z$10 billion

• Banks work overtime as currency deadline nears

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• Long queues as Zimbabwe runs out cash

By Cris Chinaka

ZIMBABWE rolled out a new set of banknotes and coins on Friday to ease the impact of a ravaging economic crisis, but for many people the move was merely confirmation that authorities have lost the battle against inflation.

The government of Robert Mugabe started replacing billions of dollars of currency in circulation as inflation spiralled out of control. Official inflation stands at 2.2 million percent, the world's highest.

Zimbabwe central bank Governor Gideon Gono on Wednesday announced that from Aug. 1, the local currency would be re-denominated by removing 10 zeros from a Zimbabwe dollar. The highest note was 100 billion.

"Other than making it easier for us to count and to carry around, our problems have not gone away," said Lameck Chamunorwa as he left a bank after withdrawing Z$200 in new notes.

"It's like we are pretending that things are getting normal when the truth is that they are doing this (introducing the new currency) because we are in a bad state and far from normality," said the 28-year-old shop cleaner.

The new set of notes -- from Z$1 to Z$500 -- will circulate alongside the higher-denominated currency being phased until at the end of the year.

Long queues formed throughout the day as people sought to withdraw money from banks.

Zimbabwe's economic crisis -- also highlighted by chronic shortages of food and fuel, and massive unemployment -- has forced Mugabe to negotiate with the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change in talks expected to usher in a government of national unity.

Critics accuse Mugabe of destroying one of Africa's most promising economies with controversial policies, including his seizures of white-owned farms for redistribution to blacks, and see no hope for the country without a change in government.

THE RETURN OF THE COIN: Zimbabweans have not used coins in close to a decade

John Robertson, a leading Zimbabwean economic consultant, said the new banknotes would have no impact on an economy which has shrunk by almost two thirds over the past decade.

"These are very artificial reforms," he said.

"What the country needs is a change in direction, a change in policies that are affecting local and foreign investment, and real respect for private property rights." - Reuters

LAUNCH: A reserve Bank employee looks at a specimen of the nmew $1 bill on a computer
LAUNCH: A Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe employee looks at a specimen of the nmew $1 bill on a computer
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