Zimbabwe dollars

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Zimbabwe dollars
Country: Zimbabwe
Subdivision: 100 cents
ISO 4217 code : ZWL
Abbreviation: ZWL $
Exchange rate :
(10 Jul 2020)

1  EUR  = 74.2101 ZWL
10 ZWL = 0.1348 EUR

1  CHF  = 69.0326 ZWL
10 ZWL = 0.1449 CHF

500 Zimbabwe dollars from 2009
10 billion Zimbabwe dollars as of 2008
100 trillion to English quintillion , Zimbabwe Dollar from 2008, placed on the market in January 2009

The Zimbabwe dollar ( English Zimbabwe dollar , short ZWL ) was between 1980 and 2015 and has been the currency of Zimbabwe since June 24, 2019 . It is divided into 100 cents .

After severe inflation , the Zimbabwean dollar was de facto inoperative since 2009. The final demonetization of the Zimbabwe dollar was announced on June 11, 2015 and took place until September 30, 2015. Subsequently, local substitute currencies were created in addition to the US dollar, euro, South African rand and yuan. On June 24, 2019, the RTGS dollar was renamed the Zimbabwe dollar and all foreign currencies were banned as a means of payment.

The currencies of Rhodesia and Zimbabwe

The new currency, the Zimbabwe dollar, replaced the Rhodesian dollar at a ratio of 1: 1 when the country became independent in 1980. Both currencies initially continued to run in parallel. It was not until 1981 that the Rhodesian dollar was withdrawn from circulation.

currency abbreviation Introduction date Exchange rate
Rhodesian pound R £ 1964 R £ 1 = 20 Rhodesian shillings = 240 Rhodesian pence = 1  pound sterling
Rhodesian dollar R $ 17th February 1971 1 R $ = 100 cents = ½ R £
First Zimbabwean dollar ZWD 1980/1981 1 ZWD = 1 R $
Second Zimbabwean dollar ZWN August 1, 2006 1 ZWN = 1000 ZWD
Third Zimbabwean dollar ZWR August 1, 2008 1 ZWR = 10 10  ZWN = 10 13  ZWD
Fourth Zimbabwean dollar ZWL February 2, 2009 1 ZWL = 10 12  ZWR = 10 22  ZWN = 10 25  ZWD
Promissory notes * December 2016 1 promissory note = 1 USD
RTGS dollars * 20th February 2019 1 RTGS dollar was equivalent to around US $ 0.40 when it was first issued. In
early June 2019, the official value was set at around US $ 0.17
Zimbabwe dollars ZWL $ June 24, 2019 1 RTGS dollar = 1 promissory note = 1 Zimbabwean dollar

* Currency replacement

The fourth Zimbabwean dollar was introduced on February 2, 2009, a new Zimbabwean dollar (ZWL) is equivalent to one trillion (1,000,000,000,000) old Zimbabwean dollars (ZWR). On August 1, 2008, when the third Zimbabwean dollar was introduced, 10 zeros were deleted from the previous dollar (ZWN).

Inflation since 2006

The situation in 2006

Coins to the denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents, as well as 1 and 2 dollars were in circulation until August 2006 ; as well as banknotes of 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 dollars. In addition, so-called bearer checks , a type of temporary emergency money in denominations of 5000, 10,000 and 20,000 and later 50,000 dollars, have been circulating since December 2003 .

As part of a currency changeover, the old bearer checks were exchanged for new ones at a ratio of 1: 1000 in August 2006, while the currency name Zimbabwe dollars was retained. The exchange campaign was sometimes chaotic due to logistical problems. Among other things, there were not enough new bearer checks in smaller denominations, so that either nothing could be sold in shops or change was given in the form of candy or the like.

The situation in 2007

Due to the extreme inflation, there were serious bottlenecks in the supply of paper money in 2007; Bank customers had to queue for several hours to withdraw money. To alleviate the problem, bearer checks were issued for $ 1, 5, and 10 million in early 2008, a few months later for $ 25 and 50 million, and new ones for $ 100 and 250 million in May 2008.

Development 2008

Decline in value of the Zimbabwe dollar in 2008 compared to the euro

Plans for another currency conversion in January 2008 were canceled at short notice. In February 2008 it was reported that the inflation rate had broken the 100,000 percent mark. At the beginning of May 2008, the exchange rate of the dollar was released; previously the official exchange rate was set at 1  US dollar or 30,000 Zimbabwe dollars, which was increasingly deviating from reality due to ongoing inflation.

In the meantime, the depreciation of the Zimbabwe dollar had reached hyperinflation . The unofficial inflation rate on October 24, 2008 was 10.2 quadrillion (10.2 · 10 15 ) percent, the Cato Institute put it on October 31, 2008 at 2.79 trillion (2.79 · 10 18 ) percent and rose on November 7, 2008 to 215 trillion (215 · 10 18 ) percent. It rose further on November 14, 2008 to 89.7 trillion (89.7 · 10 21 ) percent. In November 2008 the prices were already multiplying every day. The $ 100 billion banknote that was issued in mid-July 2008 was the highest denomination banknote that year. According to other sources, inflation reached 500 billion percent in 2008.

On August 1, 2008, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe stripped 10 zeros from the currency. Thus, 10 billion old Zimbabwean dollars were exchanged for a new third generation Zimbabwean dollar. The official exchange rate on the issue date was $ 1 to $ 7.58 Zimbabwe. 1 Euro was officially equivalent to 11.80 ZWR. More realistic figures spoke of an exchange rate of 1 US dollar to 60 Zimbabwe dollars. New Zimbabwean dollar 1, 5, 10, 20, 100 and 500 banknotes were issued. Coins were also issued again; instead, the old coins of the first Zimbabwean dollar, which had long since become worthless, in the values ​​10, 20, 50 cents, 1, 2 and 5 dollars were brought out again and thus upgraded by a factor of 10 13 . In mid-August, the value of the Zimbabwe dollar had halved again compared to the time of the revaluation. In October 2008 all coins were withdrawn from circulation. In the meantime, banknotes of 10,000, 20,000 and 50,000 dollars were issued, on November 3, 2008 for 1 million dollars, the remaining banknotes were also withdrawn from circulation. In mid-November, all banknotes except for 500,000 and 1,000,000 dollars were withdrawn from circulation, so that Zimbabwe practically only had two banknote sizes available as a total means of payment. In early December, larger banknotes of $ 10 million, $ 50 million, $ 100 million, $ 200 million and $ 500 million were issued. On December 19, banknotes were added to $ 1 billion, $ 5 billion and $ 10 billion. Annual inflation was in the trillion percent range.

Suspension 2009

On January 16, 2009, state media announced the issuance of a 100 trillion (100,000,000,000) Zimbabwean dollar banknote. There should also be other Zimbabwean dollar 10, 20 and 50 trillion dollar bills. On January 21, 2009 the daily inflation rate according to Forbes Asia reached a value of 98 percent. This makes hyperinflation in Zimbabwe one of the highest ever observed. Daily inflation of 100 percent was exceeded by the Hungarian pengő as early as 1946 . On January 29, 2009, the government allowed the use of other currencies for payment in all stores; Until then, only certain businesses were allowed to accept foreign currencies.

On February 2, another 12 zeros were deleted. New $ 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, and 500 notes were issued.

Zimbabwe then planned to pay officials' salaries in US dollars.

In April 2009, the government suspended the Zimbabwean dollar for at least one year, and foreign currencies such as the euro, the US dollar and the South African rand were introduced as a means of payment. The government hoped that this measure would put an end to the inflation and did not want to reintroduce its own currency until the country had supporting industries.

Devaluation 2015

The Central Bank of Zimbabwe issued a press release on June 11, 2015, announcing the final devaluation of the Zimbabwean dollar. Between June 15 and September 30, 2015, all bank accounts were converted to the US dollar as the transition currency and banknotes were exchanged for US dollars in all banks. For bank accounts prior to December 31, 2008, 35 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars are equivalent to one US dollar, with this exchange rate only coming into effect when the account has a balance of 175 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars. A uniform fee of 5 US dollars is paid below this. For accounts that were already devalued in 2009, 35,000 Zimbabwean dollars are equivalent to one US dollar. Banknotes of the series from 2008 are exchanged at the exchange rate set by the United Nations of 250 trillion ZWL: 1 USD, 250 Zimbabwe dollars from 2009 correspond to one US dollar.

On October 1, 2015, the Zimbabwean dollar lost its legal tender status.

Situation since 2019

Since the introduction of the RTGS dollar and the new Zimbabwe dollar, the exchange rate to the euro has changed from around 1 RTGS / ZWL = 0.35 euros to around 0.06 euros (as of October 2019). The central bank suspended the publication of inflation data in July 2019 in an effort to calm the population. In October 2019, the inflation rate for August 2019 was given as more than 300 percent. On November 11, 2019, new cash was introduced for the first time with a 2 dollar coin. At the same time, the annual inflation rate was given as 440 percent.

In May 2020, 10 and 20 dollar banknotes were introduced. The annual inflation rate was given as 926 percent. From the end of May 2020 to the beginning of July 2020 alone, the Zimbabwean dollar fell against the euro from 27.755 for one euro to 71.61975 for the euro.

Local substitute currencies

Promissory notes and coins

1 dollar debt coin

In December 2016, due to weak exports and the resulting shortage of US dollars, promissory notes with values ​​of one to five US dollars were issued. Since these promissory notes could only theoretically be exchanged for US dollars at a rate of 1: 1, this represented the introduction of a parallel currency that was quickly subject to inflation again.

RTGS dollars

In February 2019, the central bank announced the devaluation of the promissory notes because the state could no longer cover them with US dollars at the fixed exchange rate. A de facto new currency was thus introduced, the RTGS dollar. At the time, the black market rate against the US dollar was 3.66-3.80 RTGS dollars at US $ 1. Former Treasury Secretary Tendai Biti then expected RTGS $ 6 to $ 8 against the US dollar.

On June 24, 2019, the RTGS dollar was renamed the Zimbabwe dollar . Cash in the new currency began issuing in November 2019, with a $ 5 note being its highest value.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ DEMONETIZATION OF THE ZIMBABWE DOLLAR. Press Statement, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, June 11, 2015 ( June 14, 2015 memento in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ a b c Zim dollars only: Finance minister Ncube bans foreign currency. Fin24, June 24, 2019.
  3. ^ Press Statement on Strengthening the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market. Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, June 24, 2019.
  4. ↑ zimonline.co.za
  5. ↑ cato.org: New Hyperinflation Index (HHIZ) Puts Zimbabwe Inflation at 89.7 Sextillion Percent (English)
  6. ↑ Tagesschau : Zimbabwe introduces 100 billion dollar bill ( Memento from January 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), July 19, 2008.
  7. ↑ Zimbabwe's inflation rate is being misread, Ncube says. FIN24.com, February 21, 2019.
  8. ↑ rbz.co.zw
  9. ↑ zimbabweanequities.com ( Memento from August 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ↑ cnn.com: Zimbabwe issues $ 1 million bills as inflation soars (Engl.)
  11. ↑ BBC : Zimbabwe rolls out Z $ 100tr note (Engl.)
  12. ↑ forbes.com: Inflation in Zimbabwe (Engl.)
  13. ↑ BBC: Zimbabwe abandons its currency (Eng.)
  14. ↑ a b Spiegel Online : Hyperinflation: Zimbabwe drops twelve zeros
  15. ↑ Focus : Zimbabwe: Officials, teachers and soldiers will be paid in US dollars in future
  16. ↑ rbz.co.zw: Demonetization of the Zimbabwe Dollar ( Memento from June 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), June 14, 2015
  17. ↑ It's official: Hyperinflation has returned to Zimbabwe. Fin24, October 12, 2019.
  18. ↑ Zim monthly inflation more than doubles since September. Fin24, November 19, 2019.
  19. ↑ Introduction into Circulation of $ 10 and $ 20 Dollar Banknotes. Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, May 15, 2020.
  20. ^ Promissory notes as parallel currency in Zimbabwe Standard.at
  21. ↑ economist.com: Inflation of promissory notes (English)
  22. ↑ Zim says exchange rate to strengthen, thanks to 'new currency'. Bloomberg News, In: Fin24.com, February 22, 2019.
  23. ↑ Zimbabwe to introduce new dollar notes and coins in November. Fin24, October 30, 2019.