Harare
Zimbabwe’s central bank on Tuesday announced the introduction of a new 50-dollar note, the country’s highest denomination, worth only around $0.60 in US currency.
Insufficient to pay even for a loaf of bread, the bill’s entry into circulation has revived memories of hyperinflation seen more than a decade ago in the southern African nation.
As price growth spiralled out of control, denominations at the time mounted as high as a 100-trillion-dollar note.
Award-winning journalist and government critic Hopewell Chin’ono scoffed at the new banknote, which at the unofficial black market exchange rate will be worth just $0.35 in US dollars.
“It tells you something about inflation in your country if you need 3 notes of your highest currency denomination to buy a premium beer in a supermarket,” tweeted Chin’ono.
The new note is the latest and most valuable in a series introduced from February 2019 as Zimbabwe moved back to using local currency.
US dollars had been used since 2009, when the country trashed its own worthless units after hyperinflation reached 500 billion percent.—AFP
