Zimbabweans Drive Stocks Up 600% to Dodge Currency Crash
- Harare’s stock exchange is a favored haven for local investors
- Trade halted briefly on Tuesday after main index surged 10%
A man holds Zimbabwean dollar banknotes.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Zimbabweans frantically trying to protect their savings from a collapsing currency have driven the country’s main stock index up by 600% this year. Local traders see more gains in store because there are few alternative assets to buy.
Zimbabweans often turn to equities as a haven from currency meltdowns and episodes of hyperinflation, as happened in June 2020 when the inflation rate reached 837%. The bourse in Harare, the capital, briefly halted trading on Tuesday when the jump in the all-share index breached a 10% limit introduced in April, the second time that’s happened.