Currency conundrums in Zimbabwe

Currency conundrums in Zimbabwe

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zimbabwe abandoned the use of its own currency, the Zimbabwe dollar, in February 2009 and adopted a multi-currency regime. The demise of the Zimbabwe dollar was not mourned. By the time it was phased out it had lost all credibility as a medium of exchange, after years of hyperinflation running to many million percent. While the multi-currency regime legalised the use in Zimbabwe of a number of currencies, among…

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Zimbabwe Securities Regulator Approves Debt Listing Rules

Zimbabwe Securities Regulator Approves Debt Listing Rules

HARARE, Capital Markets in Africa: Zimbabwe’s securities regulator has approved rules allowing companies to raise debt capital on the nation’s stock exchange, including minimum requirements for amounts and maturities of bond sales. Companies will have to raise a minimum of $1 million with a maturity of at least one year to qualify for a listing, according to draft regulations approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission last month, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg…

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Zimbabwe Starts $500 Million Program to Boost Corn Output

HARARE, Zimbabwe, Capital Markets in Africa: Zimbabwe has started rolling out a $500 million program to boost corn production to meet domestic food demand. The three-year plan is aimed at raising plantings and expanding irrigation to increase production of the dietary staple to 2 million metric tons a year, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa told reporters on Monday. The country harvested 742,000 tons of corn in the 2014-15 season, less than the 1.8 million tons needed by the Zimbabwean…

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Zimbabwe Says It’s on Course to Clear $1.8 Billion Loan Arrears

Zimbabwe Says It’s on Course to Clear $1.8 Billion Loan Arrears

HARARE, Capital Markets in Africa: Zimbabwe will clear the $1.8 billion of arrears it owes the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and African Development Bank once it has a new financing plan with the three multilateral lenders, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said. The southern African nation is continuing negotiations with the three on financing industries such as agriculture, Chinamasa said in an interview in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. A survey of how much money is required is being undertaken and once agreed,…

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Zimbabwe Misses Own Deadline to Repay $1.8 Billion; Pays None

Zimbabwe Misses Own Deadline to Repay $1.8 Billion; Pays None

Harare, Capital Markets in Africa, Zimbabwe failed to repay $1.8 billion to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and African Development Bank by its own June 30 deadline. “Right now, we’ve not paid anything,” John Mangudya, Zimbabwe’s central bank governor, said by phone from the capital, Harare, on Thursday. “That is why we have this re-engagement process with international financial institutions. This is all part of re-engagement and confidence building measures.” Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said earlier…

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Zimbabwe’s Black Market, Where the Dollar Trades Against Itself

Zimbabwe’s Black Market, Where the Dollar Trades Against Itself

HARARE, Zimbabwe, Capital Markets in Africa: In Zimbabwe — the country that once suffered 500 billion percent inflation — one dollar may now cost you as much as $1.07. A shortage of banknotes is resulting in a new black market more than seven years after Zimbabwe abolished its own money, the Zimbabwean dollar, and adopted the greenback and other foreign currencies to avoid exactly that sort of unofficial trading. The cash crunch has intensified in…

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Zimbabwe Threatens to Scrap Bank Licenses Over Export Rules

Zimbabwe Threatens to Scrap Bank Licenses Over Export Rules

HARARE, Zimbabwe, Capital Markets in Africa: Zimbabwe’s central bank threatened to cancel the licenses of banks and foreign-currency dealers found to have violated new exchange-control regulations aimed at easing a dollar shortage. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe last week sent a directive changing the way banks and other authorized foreign-currency dealers are required to handle export earnings, adding measures aimed at encouraging companies to export their products through an incentive payment, according to a copy of the circular obtained…

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