Zimbabwe is set to introduce a new currency in the next 12 months the country\u2019s finance minister said, as a shortage of US dollars has sent the country’s financial system into chaos, with businesses forced to close.<\/p>\n
Reuters reported that the country has\u00a0 endured an acute shortage of imported goods over the past few months, including fuel prices – up by 150% on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Zimbabwe has adopted currencies from other countries since moving away from the local dollar in 2009, due to hyperinflation. This has included the rand, the US dollar and the pound.<\/p>\n
Reuters reported that the Southern African country doesn’t have enough hard currency to back up the $10 billion of electronic funds trapped in local bank accounts.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the issue of raising enough foreign currency to introduce the new currency, we are on our way already, give us months, not years,\u201d finance minister Mthuli Ncube said on Friday.<\/p>\n
Zimbabwe\u2019s foreign reserves now provide less than two weeks cover for imports, central bank data showed.<\/p>\n
Labor unrest is mounting with fuel, food, medicines and foreign exchange all in short supply, Bloomberg reported.<\/strong><\/p>\n Zimbabwean state employees threatened to join a strike by doctors and teachers unless the government addresses the impact of inflation on their salaries.<\/p>\n Prices in Zimbabwe are rising at the fastest pace since a hyperinflationary spiral in 2008, when the rate hit 500 billion percent, amid a scarcity of foreign currency that\u2019s caused a shortage of food and fuel. Teachers this week joined a nationwide strike begun by doctors last month over inadequate pay.<\/p>\n
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