- (Note - Under white rule the Rhodesian Dollar was almost
equal to a US Dollar in value. -Jan)
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- By Peta Thornycroft VOA News
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- HARARE -- Zimbabwe's currency
went into free fall Thursday, losing one third of its value since Tuesday,
and currently changing hands at one U.S. dollar to about 6,000 Zimbabwe
dollars. Bankers say the latest fall in the Zimbabwe dollar is largely
caused by private sector demand for foreign currency to import fuel. Until
recently, the government was the only legal importer of fuel, but it has
no foreign currency reserves, and has relaxed regulations to allow privately
owned companies and individuals to bring fuel into the country. Gasoline
and diesel fuel are now available to those who can pay in foreign currency
up to 60 cents a liter, about five times more than what it cost when it
was widely available in local money.
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- People can no longer buy fuel from gas stations, and
instead, have to go to a variety of new outlets, sometimes in the back
yards of private homes. To ease the acute shortage of bank notes, the government
said Thursday it will start issuing travelers checks in large denominations.
Starting Friday, the checks will be accepted as legal tender in Zimbabwe,
but will not be valid abroad. Meanwhile, the country's economic crisis
continues to deepen. In the last five days, tobacco growers have twice
canceled sales of their crop at the annual auctions, because they are paid
at the official rate of 820 Zimbabwe dollars to one U.S. dollar. Even though
tobacco crops have been dramatically reduced, earnings from tobacco exports
contribute a large share to Zimbabwe's foreign currency reserves.
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- http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=7329
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