Zimbabwe ditches currency for dollar

Zimbabweans will start exchanging ‘quadrillions’ of local dollars for a few US dollars next week, as president Robert Mugabe’s government discards its virtually worthless national currency, the central bank said.

The southern African country started using foreign currencies such as the US dollar and South African rand in 2009 after the Zimbabwean dollar was ruined by hyper-inflation, which hit 500bn% in 2008.

At the height of Zimbabwe’s economic crisis in 2008, Zimbabweans had to carry plastic bags bulging with bank notes to buy basic goods such as bread and milk. Prices were rising at least twice a day.