The Central Bank of Zimbawe has announced a plan to completely phase out the Zimbabwean currency. Beginning from Monday, Zimbabwean currency can be exchanged for U.S. dollars at the rate of 175 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars for every $1 US Dollar.
That means a holder of a 100 trillion bank note will only get 40 cents in US Currency.
Zimbabwe abandoned its currency in 2009 for a system based on the U.S. dollar and the South African Rand.
At the time even street hawkers refused to accept the country’s highest note of $100 trillion. At the peak of the nation’s inflation, Zimbabweans had to carry plastic bags full of money to buy basic goods like bread and milk. Prices of goods were rising at least twice a day.
Some members of President Robert Mugabe’s party, the ZANU-PF, have called for the return of the Zimbabwean dollar.
However, even the country’s Finance Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, has repeatedly said that the U.S. dollar “is here to stay.”
