Harare: Zimbabwe will release dollar-backed bond notes with a daily withdrawal limit of $50 (Dh183.65) on November 28, the central bank said, as the Southern African nation grapples with a shortage of currency.
“The bond notes will be released into the market through normal banking channels in small denominations of $2 and $5 to fund export incentives of 5 percent which will be paid out to exporters of goods and services and diaspora remittances,” the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe said in an emailed statement on Saturday.
“The use of bond notes within the multicurrency exchange system which are anchored to the $200 million facility will operate along the same lines as bond coins,” the bank said. Zimbabwe is facing currency shortages which has seen banks limiting withdrawals to $40-$50 a day from $300.
The country abandoned its own currency in 2009 to end hyperinflation and uses mainly dollars, with rands, euros, pounds and several other currencies also accepted as legal tender. A shortage of foreign exchange after a collapse in exports has caused a liquidity crisis that’s forced the government to delay worker payments. On November 7, President Robert Mugabe authorised the introduction of dollar-backed bond notes.
