CASH CRUNCH
Zimbabwe weighs up using rand to boost ailing economy
Newly appointed finance minister Mthuli Ncube faces an uphill battle to stabilise the economy
Zimbabwe is seriously considering using the rand as its official currency, newly appointed finance minister Mthuli Ncube has said. Ncube, a former dean of the Wits University Business School and deputy president and chief economist of the African Development Bank, said that Zimbabwe had only three viable options to get out of the cash crunch it was facing. Ncube’s major challenge is to stabilise the economy that has recently been hit by acute shortages of cash and basic commodities and skyrocketing prices, as well as a perennial foreign currency crunch. He told Zimbabwe’s state media at the weekend that adopting the rand was a possible alternative in his bid to salvage the staggering economy. "I am very clear that there have to be currency reforms and the [current] currency approach is not working," he said. "In doing so, there are three choices that I will explore and pursue with urgency. One is to adopt the US dollar only and remove the bond notes from circulation through a demone...
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