Zimbabwean dollar, after breaching 1,000 barrier mark to the American dollar in official exchange rate last week, the local currency declined further this week to 1,021.
Commenting on the development, former finance minister Tendai Biti said: “The wheels have totally come off with the black market rate hitting a new low of 1:2000, a premium of 80% over official rate.”
Zimbabwe is now measuring inflation using a weighted average of items priced in Zimbabwean dollars and U.S. dollars.
Previously the official rate was based only on items in the local currency.
The U.S. dollar is widely used in the southern African country alongside the Zimbabwean dollar and South African rand.
The government relaunched the Zimbabwean dollar in 2019 after a decade of dollarisation, but in 2020 it authorised the use of foreign currencies as part of measures to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zwnews
