But Zimbabwe has run out of US dollar notes in recent months, and hopes to ease the cash crunch by printing its own “bond notes” that will be valued in denominations of $2, $5, $10 and $20. The plan immediately attracted criticism, with analysts saying the token currency would not hold its US dollar value and would be seen as a new version of the valueless local dollar. A wave of protests has shaken Mugabe's regime this year, with “No to bond notes” among the regular slogans expressing grievances against the government amid a worsening economic crisis. The new bond notes will be printed in Germany and backed by a $200-million support facility provided by Afreximbank (Africa Export-Import Bank), the government has said. Bond coins valued in US cents were introduced in Zimbabwe in 2014 to tackle the problem of small change.

Source: Sunday Times September 15, 2016 11:48 UTC