The government has extended the use of the multi-currency system to 2030, meaning citizens and businesses can continue trading in multiple currencies other than the Zimbabwe Dollar, providing relief to businesses that have been struggling to keep up with the ailing currency.
The multi-currency system in Zimbabwe started in February 2009, when the government adopted a basket of different currencies with the US dollar as the official currency after the Zimbabwe dollar was removed from circulation.
This saw consumers and businesses using the US dollar, British pound, South African rand, Botswana pula and any other foreign currency for various transactions.
Using his presidential powers, President Emmerson Mnangagwa issued Statutory Instrument (SI) 218 of 2023 whose provisions “expressly or impliedly permit the settlement of any transaction or the payment for goods and services in foreign currency, shall notwithstanding SI 142 of 2019 be valid until 31 December 2030.”
SI 142 of 2019 introduced on June 24 ,2019 by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Professor Mthuli Ncube reintroduced the Zimbabwean dollar as the sole legal tender in Zimbabwe, which had far-reaching consequences for foreign currency that was used.
Businessperson and Industrialist, Busisa Moyo, described the latest proclamation as a positive development for corporates and economic actors.
“Prior to this USD could only have a tenor of up 30 June 2025 or earlier. The work of a dignified, fungible and stable local currency ZWL or ZWX still remains to be mapped out carefully and effectively,” he said on his X account.
