Economics
Zimbabwe's Hail-Mary Pass to Ease Dollar Woes Works, For Now
- Nation’s black-market and official exchange rates move closer
- Fast-food chain Simbisa reduces prices at some pizza outlets
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Crisis-stricken Zimbabwe may have landed a raft of major monetary-policy reforms that were dubbed by one analyst as a “Hail-Mary pass.”
Last week, the central bank banned the use of foreign currencies as legal tender, officially reintroduced the Zimbabwean dollar a decade after it was wiped out by hyperinflation, hiked overnight interest rates to 50% and removed a cap on banks’ foreign-exchange trading margins. While slammed by some businesses, the moves have succeeded in reducing the gap between the nation’s official and black-market exchange rates.