Harare — After defying economic gravity for a year, Zimbabwe’s homemade US dollars have fallen to earth with a bump. Rumours that the central bank was buying up black-market US dollars last month with one of its own versions of the currency created panic in a country scarred by the hyper-inflationary spiral of 2008 that wiped out people’s savings. The worthless Zimbabwean dollar was replaced by the US dollar in 2009, but the economy has struggled over the past 18 months because of an enormous domestic shortage of greenbacks. As a result, cash — especially crisp, new, $100 bills — has enjoyed a steady 10% to 20% premium over dollars stored electronically in bank accounts — nicknamed "zollars". But two weeks ago, the rumours that even the central bank had run out of hard currency sent the premium soaring to nearly 50%, according to black-market traders and unofficial measures of the zollar value. "I am really scared that I will wake up one day and find my money in the bank is worthles...
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