Zimbabwe debuts with gold coins as legal tender to curb inflation
Zimbabwe has launched gold coins for sale to the public in a bid to tame runaway inflation that is further eroding the country’s volatile currency. Key points: Zimbabwe’s inflation hit 5 billion percent in 2008 Trust in the currency is low Coins can be used for in-store purchases The unprecedented move was announced Monday by the country’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, to boost confidence in the local currency. Confidence in Zimbabwe’s currency was low after people saw their savings erased by hyperinflation in 2008 that reached 5 billion percent, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). With strong memories of disastrous inflation, many Zimbabweans today prefer to scramble in the illegal market for scarce US dollars to keep at home as savings or for day-to-day transactions. And confidence in the Zimbabwean currency is already so low that many retailers don’t accept it. The central bank disbursed 2,000 coins to commercial banks on Monday. The first coins were mi