Zimbabwean dollar

Zimbabwean dollar

File:250m-zwd.jpg $250,000,000 bearer cheque issued 2 May 2008.
ISO 4217
Unit
Symbol	$‎
Denominations
Subunit
1/100	cent not used in practice
Banknotes	(bearer cheques) $5 000 000 $10 000 000 $25 000 000 $50 000 000 $100 000 000 $250 000 000 $500 000 000 (Special Agro Cheques [1]) $5 000 000 000, $25 000 000 000, $50 000 000 000
Coins	None
Demographics
User(s)	Zimbabwe
Issuance
Central bank	Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
Website	www.rbz.co.zw
Valuation
Inflation	(official) 355,000% March 2008; (estimated) 1,063,572.6% May 2008
Source

The dollar is the currency of Zimbabwe. It is subdivided into 100 cents. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively Z$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies.

History

First dollar

The first Zimbabwean dollar was introduced in 1980 and replaced the Rhodesian dollar at par. The present ISO 4217 code was ZWD. At the time of its introduction, the Zimbabwean dollar was still worth more than the U.S. dollar, with ZWD 0.68 = USD 1.00. However, the currency's value eroded rapidly over the years. On 26 July, 2006, the parallel market value of the Z-dollar fell to one million to the British pound [2].

Second dollar

In October 2005, the head of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Dr. Gideon Gono, announced "Zimbabwe will have a new currency next year." New banknotes and coins were to replace the then current Zimbabwean dollar. Gono did not provide a name for this new currency. In June 2006, Deputy Finance Minister David Chapfika stated that Zimbabwe had to achieve macroeconomic stability (i.e., double digit inflation) before any new currency was introduced.

The dollar was redenominated on 1 August 2006 at the rate of 1 revalued dollar = 1000 old dollars. The new dollar is subdivided into 100 cents although, in practice, cents are not used. Together with the redenomination, the government devalued the dollar by 60% vs. the US dollar (see exchange rate history table below), from 101,000 old dollars (101 revalued) to 250 revalued dollars. ISO originally assigned a new currency code of ZWN to this redenominated currency, but the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe could not deal with a currency change. Therefore the currency code remains 'ZWD' [3].

The revaluation campaign, which Gideon Gono named "Operation Sunrise" was completed on 21 August 2006. It was estimated that some ten trillion old Zimbabwe dollars (22% of the money supply) were not redeemed during this period. [4].

On December 12, 2006, Dr. Gono hinted in a memorandum to banks and other financial institutions that he would lay out the next phase of his monetary reforms dubbed Project Sunrise Two when he announces the monetary policy review statement in January 2007. It was not possible to get immediate confirmation from Gono's office whether the memorandum was advice to banks that he would be launching the new currency in January. But the chief executive officer of one of the country's largest banks said industry players had understood the governor's memo to mean new money would be introduced next month. [5] A possible name appears to be "ivhu", which means "soil" in Shona [6].

On February 2, 2007, it was revealed that a new (third) dollar would be released "soon" and gave some details of the new banknotes (see below). However, given that inflation remains in four digits, these banknotes are likely to remain in storage for the foreseeable future.

In February 2007, the central bank of Zimbabwe declared inflation "illegal", outlawing any raise in prices on certain commodities between March 1 and June 30, 2007. Officials have arrested executives of some Zimbabwean companies for increasing prices on their products. Economists generally suspect that such measures will be ineffective at eliminating the problem in the long term [7] [8]. On June 15, 2007, economist Eddie Cross reported that "There is talk that the Reserve Bank will cut another three zeros off our currency next week and this would mean that one Zimbabwe dollar would now equal one million of the "old" dollars. Chaos reigns in commerce and industry and those in the public sector are frantic." [9]

On 6 September 2007 the Zimbabwe Dollar was devalued by 11,900%, to give an official exchange rate of ZW$30,000 to US$1, although the black market exchange rate was estimated to be ZW$600,000 to US$1. [10]

Inflation

Template:ZWD inflation Rampant inflation and the collapse of the economy have severely devalued the currency, with many organizations using the US dollar, the euro, the pound sterling, or the South African rand instead. Early in the 21st century, Zimbabwe started to experience hyperinflation. Inflation reached 624% in early 2004, then fell back to low triple digits before surging to 1,281.1% in December 2006 [11]. Inflation reached another record high of 3714% (year-on-year) in April 2007 [12]. The monthly rate for April 2007 exceeded 100%, implying that inflation may soon exceed all forecasts, as 100% monthly inflation over sustained 12 months would produce annual inflation of over 400,000%. Mid year inflation for 2007 has been breaching records as inflation for May 2007 was estimated at 4,530% (year-on-year) [13].

On 21 June 2007, the American ambassador to Zimbabwe, Christopher Dell, told the Guardian newspaper that inflation could reach 1.5 million per cent by the end of the year. The current unofficial inflation rate is above 11,000%, and the black-market exchange rate is Z$400,000 to the pound.

On 13 July 2007, the Zimbabwean government said it had temporarily stopped publishing (official) inflation figures, a move that observers said was meant to draw attention away from runaway inflation which has come to symbolise the country's unprecedented economic meltdown.

On 27 July 2007, the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) said its recent calculations for the monthly expenditure for an urban family of six showed that inflation for the month of June was more than 13,000%. The Central Statistical Office (CSO), the official source of Consumer Price Index numbers, had not released its figures since February (2007) when it reported annual inflation at 1,729%.

In September 2007, the Central Statistical Office announced an official inflation rate of 6,592.8% for August 2007. Private estimates are as high as 20,000%. In October 2007, they announced an official inflation rate of 7,892.1% for September 2007. In November 2007, they announced an official inflation rate of 14,840.5% for October 2007.

On 27 November 2007, the chief statistician of the Central Statistical Office, Moffat Nyoni, announced that it would be impossible to calculate the inflation rate of the dollar any further. This was due to the lack of availability of basic goods, and subsequent lack of information from which to calculate the inflation rate. The International Monetary Fund has stated that inflation is predicted to rise to 100,000% per annum.

On 14 February 2008, the Central Statistical Office, announced that the inflation rate for December 2007 was 66,212.3%, and the unofficial exchange rate was Z$7.1 million to the US$1.

On 20 February 2008, the Central Statistical Office said that officially, inflation has in January 2008 gone past the 100,000% mark to 100,580.2% .

On 4 April 2008, the Financial Gazette (FinGaz) reported that officially, inflation in February 2008 jumped to 164,900.3% .

On 15 May 2008, the Zimbabwe Independent reported that officially, inflation in March 2008 jumped to 355,000% .

On 21 May 2008, SW Radio Africa reported that, according to an independent financial assessment inflation in May 2008 jumped to 1,063,572.6% . The state statistical service has said there are not enough goods in the shortage-stricken shops to calculate any new (official) figures.

Money supply (2006-2008)

On 16 February 2006, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Gideon Gono, announced that the government had printed ZWD 20.5 trillion in order to buy foreign currency to pay off IMF arrears [14]. In early May 2006, Zimbabwe's government announced that they would produce another 60 trillion Zimbabwean dollars [15]. The additional currency was required to finance the recent 300% salary increase for soldiers and policemen and 200% increase for other civil servants. The money was not budgeted for the current fiscal year, and the government did not say where it would come from. On May 29, Reserve Bank officials told IRIN that plans to print about Zim$60 trillion (about US$592.9 million at official rates) were briefly delayed after the government failed to secure foreign currency to buy ink and special paper for printing money.

In late August 2006, it was reported that about ten trillion old dollars (22% of the money supply) had not been exchanged for revalued dollars. These bearer cheques were demonetized.

On 27 June 2007, it was announced that central bank governor Gideon Gono had been ordered by President Robert Mugabe to print an additional $1 trillion to cater for civil servants' and soldiers' salaries that were hiked by 600% and 900% respectively. [16]

On 28 July 2007, it was reported that Mugabe has said that Zimbabwe will go on printing money if there isn't enough for underfunded municipal projects. [17]

On 30 August 2007 it was reported that an additional ZWD 3 trillion had been printed to pay for 500,000 scotch carts and 800,000 ox-drawn ploughs plus an unspecified number of cattle. [18]

On 3 September 2007 it was reported that that the black market in Zimbabwe is once again booming despite price controls. People who previously were employed for a paltry $11 (ZW$2 Million) a month are now able to turn as much as $166 (ZW$30 Million) just through black market trading. [19]

On 24 November 2007 it was reported that money supply was now $58 trillion revalued Zimbabwean dollars (ZWD) [20]. ($41 million US at parallel rates) However, Zimbabwe banks could only account for $1 to $2 trillion of those dollars, meaning that members of the public were holding $56 to $57 trillion in cash.

On 4 January 2008 it was reported that money supply had been increased by $33 trillion (to $100 trillion) [21] revalued Zimbabwean dollars (ZWD) [22] Further, the demonetization of the $200,000 bearer cheques was put on hold, thus increasing the money supply.

The planned issue of additional banknotes (denominations of ZWD 1, 5, and 10 Million) on January 18, 2008 will increase the money supply by an unknown amount.

On 21 January 2008 it was reported, by Gideon Gono, that the money supply had been increased to $170 trillion since mid December. Further, Gono expected it to reach $800 Trillion by January 28, 2008. [23]

On 01 March 2008, it was reported that documents obtained by The Sunday Times show the Munich company Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) was receiving more than €500,000 (£382,000) a week for delivering bank notes at the astonishing rate of Z$170 trillion a week.

“The regime is surviving by printing money,” said Martin Rupiya, professor of war and security studies at the University of Zimbabwe. “At this stage there is no other way.”

According to a source at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, G&D was delivering 432,000 sheets of banknotes every week to Fidelity printers in Harare, where they were stamped with the denomination. Each sheet contains 40 notes and the current production is entirely in Z$10m notes. [24]

Date	2006 (July)
Money Supply (ZWD)	45 Trillion
Date	2006 (Aug)	2006 (Sept)	2007 (Nov)	2007 (Dec)	2008 (Jan 21)	2008 (Jan 28)	2008 (March)	2008 (-)	2008 (-)
Money Supply (Revalued ZWD)	45 Billion,	35 Billion	58 Trillion; 67 Trillion	100 Trillion	170 Trillion	800 Trillion	25 Quadrillion	-	-

Coins

In 1980, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents and 1 dollar. The 1 cent coin was struck in bronze, with the others struck in cupro-nickel. In 1989, bronze-plated steel replaced bronze. A 2 dollar coin was introduced in 1997. In 2001, nickel-plated steel replaced cupro-nickel in the 10, 20 and 50 cents and 1 dollar, and a bimetallic 5 dollar coin was introduced. These coins [25] remain legal tender but, due to their minuscule value, they only function as gambling tokens in Zimbabwean casinos.

Plans by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, for new Z$5,000 and Z$10,000 coins were announced in June 2005 [26]. However, the coins never appeared.

Banknotes, traveller's cheques and bearer cheques

Main article: Paper money of the Zimbabwean dollar

First dollar

£8 worth of Zimbabwean dollars in 2003

In 1980, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe introduced notes in denominations of 2, 5, 10 and 20 dollars. 50 dollar notes were introduced in 1994, followed by 100 dollars in 1995, 500 dollars in 2001 and 1000 dollars in 2003.

In 2003, with mounting inflation, the Reserve Bank started issuing travelers cheques in denominations of 1000, 5000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000 and 100,000 dollars. These were superseded later the same year by bearer cheques, initially in denominations of 5,000, 10,000 and 20,000 dollars, with cheques for 50,000 and 100,000 dollars following in 2006.

Second dollar

On 1 August, 2006, the new currency was introduced, with bearer cheques in denominations of 1, 5, 10 and 50 cents, 1, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 10,000 and 100,000 dollars. There is also a 5 dollar denomination although the note does not appear on any of the Reserve Bank advertisements. Bearer cheques of 5,000 dollars (dated 01 February 2007) and 50,000 (dated 01 March 2007) were issued in March 2007. Bearer cheques of 200,000 (dated 01 August 2007) were issued in August 2007.

On November 14, 2007, it was reported that the RBZ was planning to issue more bearer cheques in denominations of 500,000 and 1 million revalued Zimbabwe dollars. These were expected to be issued in December 2007. Bearer cheques denominated below ZWD 10,000 are to be discontinued. [27]

On December 19, 2007, it was reported by Gideon Gono, that new bearer cheques (Z$250,000 ; Z$500,000 ; and Z$750,000) had been produced, and would be released on December 20, 2007. In addition, the current high value bearer cheques (Z$200,000) would be demonetized as of January 01, 2008. [28] However, due to ongoing problems, plans to demonetize this note were put on hold at the end of December.

Less than a month after announcing a similar move, Gideon Gono said the new notes would provide much needed relief to consumers who often have to go shopping with sacks of cash.

On January 16, 2008 it was reported to a press conference that "With effect from Friday (January 18), the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is releasing the following bearer cheques into circulation: one million dollars (officially worth about US$33/22 euros but worth about 50c at the parallel rate), five million dollars and 10 million dollars," by Reserve Bank Governor Gono.

"Further to provide relief and convenience to the transacting public, daily cash withdrawals have been increased from the current Z$50 million to Z$500 million per individual. This takes effect from Friday," he said.

On April 04, 2008 it was reported by the Zim Independent and Zim Online that twenty five million dollar and fifty million dollar bearer cheque was being issued as of April 04. The RBZ also increased the maximum withdrawal limit for individuals to $5 billion a day. [29] [30] [31]

On May 05, 2008 it was announced that one hundred million dollar and two hundred and fifty million dollar bearer cheques were to be issued as of May 06. It was also announced that the official exchange rate was to be floated.

On May 15, 2008 it was announced that five hundred million dollar bearer cheques were to be issued as of May 20. It was also announced that agro cheques in the amounts of 5, 25, and 50 Billion dollars would be issued on the same day. All of these will be dated to expire at the end of 2008.

Proposed third dollar

Banknotes are proposed in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 100, 500 and 1000 dollars. The 1 dollar note has an image of the Victoria Falls and a buffalo, the 5 dollar the Kariba dam wall and an elephant, the 10 dollar agricultural activity and a grain silo, the 20 dollar portrait of a mine site and a mine with a jack hammer, 100 dollar the botanic gardens and the Great Zimbabwe conical tower, the 500 dollar a portrait of a dairy farm. There are no indications of what will be on the 1000 dollar note[32].

On October 2, 2007, it was reported that Gideon Gono had announced plans to revalue the currency yet again.[33], within the first half of that month. However, these plans were later put on hold until sometime in 2008, only to be brought forward again in November 2007. On 29 Nov. it was revealed that the switch over would be "imminent," but the actual date was not disclosed. This redenomination would be named Sunrise 2, and may remove as many as 4 zeros from the currency. [34][35]

On December 18, 2007, it was reported that a further printing of the current Z$200,000 bearer cheques had been produced, seemingly instead of revaluing[36].

It would seem that revaluation to the 'third dollar' has gone back on hold for the present.

Exchange rate history

This table shows a condensed history of the foreign exchange rate:

Year	1983	1997	2000	2002 (Jun)	2005 (Mar)	2006 (Jan)	2006 (July)
ZWD per 1 USD	1	10	100	1,000	10,000	100,000	500,000+
Year	2006 (Aug)	2006 (Sept)	2006 (Dec)	2007 (Jan)	2007 (Feb)	2007 (Mar)	2007 (Apr)	2007 (May)	2007 (June)	2007 (July)
Revalued ZWD per 1 USD	650	1,000	3,000	4,800	7,500	26,000	35,000	50,000	400,000	300,000
Year	2007 (Aug)	2007 (Sept)	2007 (Oct)	2007 (Nov)	2007 (Dec)	2008 (Jan)	2008 (Feb)	2008 (Mar)	2008 (April)	2008 (May)
Revalued ZWD per 1 USD	200,000	600,000	1,000,000	1,500,000	4,000,000 (EFTS) and ~2,000,000 (cash) see Note.	6,000,000	16,000,000 and 20,000,000 (for large amounts)	70,000,000	100,000,000	777,500,000
Year	2008 (June)
Revalued ZWD per 1 USD	971,000,000

Note: Due to the Dec. 2007 banknote shortage, funds transferred via Electronic Funds Transfer Systems (EFTS) bore a premium rate of about $4 million, while the cash transaction rate varied around $2 million.

This table shows in more detail the historical value of one U.S. dollar in Zimbabwean dollars:

Date	Official Rate	Free / Parallel Rate	Notes
1978	R$0.6788 (Apr)	n/a	R$ pegged to US$
1980	R$0.68 (Mar)	n/a	R$ tied to basket of FFR, DEM, ZAR, CHF, GBP, USD
			April - Independence (1 Z$ = 1 R$)
1982	0.8925 to 0.9140 (Dec)	-	ZWD devalued by 16.5%
1983	0.96135 (Jan)	up to 3.18 (July)	ZWD devalued by 5% Parallel rate highly variable - premium up to 231%
1983 (Aug) to 1993 (Dec)	0.96135 - 6.82		Flexible basket; dual rates; 20% tax on outgoing payments
1994	6.82 (Jan)	8.36 (Oct)	Floating official rate (July 1) ; dual rates; ZWD devalued by 17%
1995	8.26 (Jan)	8.85 (Oct)	floating official rate; dual rates; rates unified 1998 (Dec)
1996	9.13 (Jan)	10.52 (Oct)
1997	10.50 (Jan)	12.00 (Jan); 25.00 (Nov)
1998	18.00 (Jan)	16.65 (Jun); 19.00 (Jul); 23.50
1999	36.23 (Jan)	38.30 (Sep)	On 1999 March 31, the Official Exchange Rate was pegged at ZWD 38 per USD; By 1999 (Dec) the parallel market had re-emerged.
2000	38 to 55	56 to 62 (Jul); 65 to 70 (Aug.)	In Aug 2000, the Official Exchange Rate was pegged at ZWD 50 , then ZWD 51 and finally at ZWD 55 per USD; Parallel black market rates were at a large premium; In Nov. foreign exchange bureaux were closed.
2001	55	70 (Jan); 80 (Feb); 100 (Mar); 120 (Apr); 140 (May); 160 (Jun); 250 (Jul); 300 (Aug); 400 (Sep); 300 (Oct); 320 (Nov); 340 (Dec)	In June, the official rate became a crawling peg rate.
2002	55	380 (Jan) to 710 (Jun), 1400 (Jul) to 1740 (Oct) to 1400 (Dec)	In 2002 the parallel black market for foreign exchange mushroomed.
2003	55 (Jan); 824 (Feb)	1400 (Jan); 1450 (Feb); 2300 (May); 3000 (Jul); 6000 (Aug); 6400 (Oct); 6000 (Nov)	In February 2003, the Official Exchange Rate was re-pegged at ZWD 824 per US $
2004	824 (Jan 1); 4196 (Jan 12) to 5730 (Dec)	5500 (Jan 1) to 6000 (Dec)	In January 2004, semi-weekly (RBZ-controlled) currency auctions were set up to determine the official rate.
2005	5,730 (January); 6,200 (March); 9,000 (May); 10,800 (July 18); 17,600 (July 25); 24,500 (August 25); 26,003 (September); 26,003 (October); 60,000 (Nov); 84,588 (Dec 30)	6,400 (January); 14,000 (March); 20,000 (May); 25,000 (July 18); 45,000 (July 25); 45,000 (August 25); 75,000 (September); 80,000 to 100,000 (October); 90,000 (Nov); 96,000 (Dec 30)	Aug 24 - Zimbabwean dollar becomes least valued currency unit
			In November 2005, the regular currency auctions were discontinued and the RBZ announced that "market factors" would control the exchange rate.
2006 (to July 31)	85,158 (Jan 3); 99,201.58 (Jan 24); 101,195.54 (Apr 28) [37]	100,000 (Jan 6); 106,050 (Jan 19); 115,000 (Jan 20); 125,000 to 150,000 (Jan 25); 175,000 to 190,000 (Feb 24); 205,000 to 220,000 (Mar 03); 220,000 to 230,000 (April 13); 300,000 to 310,000 (May 25); 315,000 (June 09); 340,000 to 350,000 (June 16); 400,000 (June 21); 450,000 (July 01); 520,000 (July 09)[38]; 550,000 (July 27)[39]	Economists predict an unofficial rate of nearly ZWD 250,000 to the US dollar by mid-2006.
			Jan 24 - RBZ caps daily variance of official exchange rate based on volume traded. The ZWD is able to fluctuate (from its average rate) in a daily band of: 0 % (under USD 5 million); 1 % (USD 5 to 10 million); 1.5 % (USD 10 to 15 million); or 2 % (exceeds USD 15 million). This effectively froze the official exchange rate.

Date		Official Rate (Revalued dollar)	Free / Parallel Rate (Revalued dollar)	Notes
2006	August	250 (250,000 old)	550 (Aug 01); 650 (Aug 03); 650 to 700 (Aug 24)	Aug 1 - RBZ revalues the Zim dollar. 1,000 Old Zim dollars become 1 revalued Zim dollar. The official exchange rate is set to 250 revalued Zim dollars per 1 US dollar. (Parallel rate soars to over 600 revalued dollars per 1 US dollar)
	September		700 to 800 (Sep 08 - high volume transactions) [40]; 850 (Sep 14) [41]; 1,200 to 1,300(Sep 28) or 1,500 (Sep 29 - high volume transactions) [42]
	October		1,500 (Oct 12) [43];
	November		1,700 (Nov 6) [44]; 2,000 (Nov 19) [45]; 2,400 (Nov 29) [46];
	December		3,000 (Dec. 25) [47]
2007	January	250	3,200 (11th [48]); 3,500 (18th [49]); 4,000 (20th [50]); 4,200 (23nd [51]); 6,000 (26th [52])
	February		4,800 (2nd [53]); 5,000 (12th [54]); 6,600 (23rd [55]); 7,000 (27th [56])
	March		7,500 (1st [57]) 8,000 (2st [58]); 10,000 (8th [59]); 11,000 (11th [60]); 12,000 - 17,500 (16th [61]); 16,000 (19th [62]); 20,000 (21st [63]); 24,000 (22nd [64]); 25,000 (27th [65]); 26,000 (29th [66])	Zimbabwean dollar becomes least valued currency unit around March 21; In March, the parallel rate becomes extremely erratic, with reported rates varying significantly.
	April	250 (15,000 special rate)	30,000 (1st [67]); 15,000 (7th [68]); 20,000 (8th [69]); 25,000 (11th [70]); 35,000 (15th [71])	A "special rate" of 15,000 ZWD per USD was brought in on 26 April 2007. The improved exchange rate will be applied to miners, farmers, tour operators, non-governmental organizations, embassies, Zimbabweans living abroad that repatriate earnings, and others who generate foreign exchange. Exporters will be required to exchange money at the central bank to receive the better rate. [72]
	May		28,000 (10th [73]); 32,000 (18th [74]); 38,000 (20th [75]); 40,000 (22nd [76]); 45,000 (24rd [77]); 50,000 (29th [78])
	June		55,000 (3nd [79]); 60,000 (12th [80]); 75-100,000 (13th [81]); 120,000 (16th [82]); 205,000 (20th [83]); 300,000 (22nd [84]); 400,000 (23rd [85])
	July		270,000 (5th [86]); 300,000 (14th [87])
	August		200,000 (21st [88])
	September	30,000	250,000 (7th [89]); 280,000 (14th [90]); 340,000 (18th [91]); 500,000 (26th [92]); 600,000 (29th [93])	Official exchange rate was changed to 30,000 on September 7, 2007 [94]
	October		750,000 (17th [95]); 1,000,000 (19th [96])
	November		1,200,000 (1st [97]); 4,500,000 (14th [98]) (not confirmed); 1,400,000 (24th [99]); 1,500,000 (30th [100])
	December		1,800,000 (1st [101]); 4,000,000 (4rd [102])	Due to the Dec 2007, banknote shortage, funds transferred via Electronic Funds Transfer Systems (EFTS) bore a premium rate of about $4 million, while the cash transaction rate varied around $2 million.
2008	January		1,900,000 (4th [103]); 3,000,000 (9th [104]); 6,000,000 (25th [105])
	February		7,500,000 (13th [106]); 16,000,000 and 20,000,000 for large amounts (21th [107])
	March		24,000,000 (2nd [108]); 25,000,000 (6th [109]); 46,000,000 (11th [110]); 70,000,000 (19th [111])
	April		80,000,000 (17th [112]); 85,000,000 (24th [113]); 100,000,000 (26th [114])
	May	30,000 (to May 4); 168,815,333.33 (May 5); 187,073,022.88 (May 6); 190,429,449.18 (May 7); 204,565,727.39 (May 8); 210,389,632.00 (May 9); 216,528,794.21 (May 12); 224,832,332.83 (May 13); 236,706,849.48 (May 14); 246,433,371.43 (May 15); 255,771,415.67 (May 16); 275,335,294.12 (May 19); 303,753,731.48 (May 20); 337,341,911.76 (May 21); 369,632,426.29 (May 22); 405,870,411.18 (May 23); 434,449,294.12 (May 27); 486,485,294.12 (May 28); 529,336,764.71 (May 29); 580,678,132.35 (May 30) [115]	190,000,000 (1st [116]); 200,000,000 (6th [117]); 250,000,000 (14th [118]); 315,000,000 (16th [119]); 494,000,000 (22nd) 580,000,000 (28th) 703,000,000 (29th) 777,500,000 (30th) [120]	The official exchange rate was allowed to float May 6
	June		971,000,000 (1st) [121]

Restoration of market data feeds

By May 23rd, 2008, Bloomberg.com [122] began publishing the new floating rate, while Yahoo.com, MSN.com, and GoCurrency.com still showed the obsolete 30,000 to 1 USD rate. On May 23rd historical records at Oanda.com [123] showed the 30,000 to 1 rate up until the 21st and floating rates starting from the 22nd, stating for the 22nd that, "1 US Dollar = 342.330 Zimbabwe Dollar", presumably in millions of ZWD. Yet by the 28th Oanda.com had retroactively updated records from May 10th to the 16th to 190,000,000 and from May 17th to the 21st to 240,000,000, and fixed decimal placement for daily quotes to show millions.

It should be noted that until the market is fully liberalized, such published rates are based on a formal market which may differ substantially from paper cash traded on the streets of Harare in what is termed as the "black market" or the "illegal parallel market". The primary drivers of that distortion may be cash shortages [124] or the limit on private party forex transactions, which must be handled via transfer instead of in cash for values beyond $150 USD. [125]

See also

• Banknotes of the Cargill Cotton Group (Zimbabwe)
• Banknotes of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
• Paper money of the Zimbabwean dollar
• Least valued currency unit
• Economy of Zimbabwe
• Denomination (currency)#redenomination

References

• Krause, Chester L.; Clifford Mishler (1991). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1801–1991 (18th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873411501.
• Pick, Albert (1994). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: General Issues. Colin R. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (7th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-207-9.

External links

News

• "Zimbabwe sees record inflation". BBC News. 2006-03-10. Retrieved 2006-10-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• "Zimbabwe's inflation surpasses 1,000 percent". CNN. 2006-05-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Thornycroft, Peta (2006-07-15). "In Zimbabwe, a small bag of groceries now costs millions". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2006-10-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• zimbabwesituation.com (2006-07-27). "Zim dollar hits a million to the pound as Murerwa unveils 'scandalous' supplementary budget". Retrieved 2006-10-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• zimbabwesituation.com (2006-07-31). "Zimbabwe devalues, redenominates currency". Retrieved 2006-10-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Zimdollar
• zimbabwesituation.com (2006-09-15). "Zimbabwe Aug inflation jumps to 1,204 pct yr/yr". Retrieved 2006-10-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• zimbabwesituation.com (2006-11-04). "Embattled currency to hit $16 000 per US dollar". Retrieved 2006-11-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• zimbabwesituation.com (2006-11-17). "Murerwa wins on devaluation". Retrieved 2006-11-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• zimbabwesituation.com (2006-11-29). "Zimdollar takes heavy knock on black market". Retrieved 2006-11-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• zimbabwesituation.com (2007-06-22). "Zimbabwe currency crashes; inflation as high as 9,000%". Retrieved 2007-06-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Zimbabwe launches $200,000 note Retrieved on 1-08-2007.
• Zimbabwe inflation hits new high (Depicts the front of the $200,000 Bearer Cheque) Retrieved on 25-08-2007.

First dollar

Preceded by: Rhodesian dollar Reason: independence recognized Ratio: at par

Currency of Zimbabwe 1980 – July 31, 2006

Succeeded by: Second dollar Reason: inflation Ratio: 1 second dollar = 1000 first dollars

Second (revalued) dollar

Preceded by: First dollar Reason: inflation Ratio: 1 second dollar = 1000 first dollars

Currency of Zimbabwe August 1, 2006 –

Succeeded by: Current