Zimbabwean dollar

Origin

The Zimbabwean dollar's predecessor, the Rhodesian dollar, was essentially equal to half of the value of the Pound sterling at the time it was adopted (during the decimalisation of 1970). The same practice which was used in other Commonwealth countries such as South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The selection of the name was motivated by the fact that the reduced value of the new unit correlated more closely to the value of the US dollar than it did to the pound sterling.

Design

The main illustration on the obverse of all of the banknotes was the Chiremba Balancing Rocks in Epworth, Harare, which were used as a metaphor demonstrating the importance of balancing development and the preservation of the fragile environment. The reverse side of dollar notes often illustrated the culture or landmarks of Zimbabwe.

Introduction of the first dollar (ZWD)

The first Zimbabwean dollar was introduced in 1980 and replaced the Rhodesian dollar at par. The initial ISO 4217 code was ZWD. At the time of its introduction, the Zimbabwean dollar was worth more than the US dollar in the official exchange market, with 1 ZWD = 1.47 USD, although this did not reflect the actual purchasing power it held. As a result, in both the official and parallel markets, the currency's value eroded rapidly over the years, and by July 2006, the parallel market value of the Zimbabwean dollar fell to Z$1000000 = GB£1.

First re-denomination: introduction of the second dollar (ZWN)

In October 2005, the head of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Dr. Gideon Gono, announced that Zimbabwe would have a new currency the following year, and new banknotes and coins would be produced. However, in June 2006, it was decreed that, for a new currency to be viable, Zimbabwe had to first achieve macro-economic stability (i.e., double digit inflation). Instead, in August 2006, the first dollar was redenominated to the second dollar at the rate of 1000 first dollars to 1 second dollar (1000:1). At the same time, the currency was devalued against the US dollar, from 101000 first dollars (101 once revalued) to 250 second dollars, a decrease of about 60% (see exchange rate history table below). 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, so the currency code remained 'ZWD'. 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.

The following year, on 2 February 2007, the RBZ revealed that a new (third) dollar would be released. However, with inflation at the time still in the four digits, the banknotes remained in storage. During the same month, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe declared inflation illegal, outlawing any raise in prices on certain commodities between 1 March and 30 June 2007. Officials arrested executives of some Zimbabwean companies for increasing prices on their products, and economists reported that "chaos had started to reign and people in the public sector has becoming frantic". On 6 September 2007, the Zimbabwe dollar was devalued again by 92%, creating 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.

As an official exchange rate became more unreliable, the WM/Reuters company introduced a notional exchange rate (ISO ZWN) which was based on Purchasing Power Parity utilising the dual listing of companies on the Harare (ZH) and London Stock exchanges (LN).

Second re-denomination: introduction of the third dollar (ZWR)

On 30 July 2008, the dollar was redenominated. After 1 August 2008, ZW$10 billion were worth ZW$1. The new currency code was ZWR. The denominations to be issued were coins valued Z$5, Z$10 and Z$25, and banknotes worth Z$5, Z$10, Z$20, Z$100, and Z$500. Due to frequent cash shortages and the apparently worthless Zimbabwean dollar, foreign currency was effectively legalised as a de facto currency on 13 September 2008 via a special program. This program officially allowed a number of retailers to accept foreign money. This reflected the reality of the dollarisation of the economy, with many shop keepers refusing to accept Zimbabwe dollars and requesting US dollars or South African rand instead. Despite redenomination, the RBZ was forced to print banknotes of ever higher values to keep up with surging inflation, with ten zeros reappearing by the end of 2008.

Third redenomination: introduction of the fourth dollar (ZWL)

On 2 February 2009, the RBZ announced that a further 12 zeros were to be taken off the currency, with 1,000,000,000,000 third Zimbabwe dollars being exchanged for 1 new fourth dollar. New banknotes were introduced with face values of Z$1, Z$5, Z$10, Z$20, Z$50, Z$100 and Z$500. The banknotes of the fourth dollar circulated alongside the third dollar, which remained legal tender until 30 June 2009. The new ISO currency code was ZWL.

Despite the introduction of the forth dollar, the problems were not eliminated, and the economy continued to be almost completely dollarised. In his first budget, the Zimbabwe finance minister, Tendai Biti, stated "the death of the Zimbabwe dollar is a reality we have to live with. Since October 2008 our national currency has become moribund". In late January 2009, acting Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa announced that all Zimbabweans would be allowed to conduct business with any currency, as a response to the hyperinflation crisis. On 12 April 2009, media outlets reported that economic planning minister Elton Mangoma had announced the suspension of the local currency "for at least a year", effectively terminating the fourth dollar.

Hyperinflation

All four issues of the Zimbabwean dollar experienced high rates of inflation, although it was not until the early 2000s that Zimbabwe started to experience totally unsustainable hyperinflation.

On 13 July 2007, the Zimbabwean government said that 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". In 2008, the inflation rate accelerated dramatically, from a rate in January of over 100,000% to an estimated rate of over one million percent by May, and nearly 250,000,000% in July. As predicted by the quantity theory of money, this hyperinflation was linked to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's choice to mushroom the money supply.

Money supply (2006–2008)

In an attempt to overcome the increasingly worthless nature of the dollar, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe repeatedly resorted to printing additional notes, often at great expense from overseas suppliers.

On 1 March 2008, it was reported that documents obtained by The Sunday Times showed that the Munich company Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) was receiving more than €500,000 (£382,000) a week for delivering bank notes equivalent to Z$170 trillion a week. By late 2008, inflation had risen so high that automated teller machines for one major bank gave a "data overflow error" and stopped customers' attempt to withdraw money with so many zeros.

Abandonment and demonetisation

The use of foreign currencies was legalised in January 2009, causing general consumer prices to stabilise again after years of hyperinflation and price speculation. The move led to a sharp drop in the usage of the Zimbabwean dollar, as hyperinflation rendered even the highest denominations worthless. The Zimbabwean dollar was effectively abandoned as an official currency on 12 April 2009, when the Economic Planning Minister Elton Mangoma confirmed the suspension of the national currency for at least a year.

On 29 January 2014, the Zimbabwe central bank announced that the US dollar, South African rand, Botswana pula, Pound sterling, Euro, Australian dollar, Chinese yuan (renminbi), Indian rupee, and Japanese yen would all be accepted as legal currency within the country.

In June 2015, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe began to formally demonetise the Zimbabwean dollar, to officially value the fiat currency at zero, in order to complete a switch to the US dollar by the end of September 2015. The Zimbabwean government stated that it would credit 5 US dollars to domestic bank accounts, with balances of up to 175 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars, and that it would exchange Zimbabwean dollars for US dollars at a rate of 1 USD to 35 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars to accounts with balances above 175 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars. This move was meant to stabilise the economy and establish a credible nominal anchor under low inflation conditions. The exercise brought closure to the outstanding issue on the Zimbabwe dollar, further confirming the government's position that the local unit will not return anytime soon. The Government has maintained that the return of the Zimbabwe dollar would only be considered when key economic fundamentals, such productivity in key sectors, have been achieved.

Coins

In 1980, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 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 coins, and a bimetallic 5 dollar coin was introduced. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe announced plans for new Z$5,000 and Z$10,000 coins in June 2005, although these were never actually struck.

In its 2014 mid-term monetary policy statement, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) said it would import special coins, known as Zimbabwean bond coins, to ease a shortage of change in the economy. Like the original 1980 coins, these special coins would be denominated in 1, 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents, but would have values at par with US cents. There would also be South African rand coins of 10 cents, 20 cents, 50 cents, 1 rand, 2 rands, and 5 rands. The RBZ's statement did not specify when or where these coins would be imported from, but a later report on November 26, 2014 clarified that over $40 million worth of these coins were expected to be delivered within the next week from Pretoria. On 18 December 2014, the 1, 5, 10, and 25 US cent denominations were released into circulation. The 50 US cent denomination followed in March 2015.

Exchange rate history

This table shows a condensed history of the foreign exchange rate of the Zimbabwean Dollars to one US Dollar:

† Due to the December 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.
‡ Exchange rate was 20,000,000 for large amounts.

The third dollar rates above are OMIR. The cash rate differs significantly to the above rates. The table below is the cash rate of the third dollar history:

Devaluation of the first dollar

The first dollar devalued from 0.6788 R$ to 1 US$ in 1978 to roughly half a million per US$ in 2006, when the currency was revalued.

This table shows in more detail the historical value of one US dollar in Zimbabwean dollars:

Devaluation of the second dollar

The second dollar started off on August 1, 2006 with an official rate of 250 and a parallel rate of 550 to the US$. In July 2008 the dollar was revalued again, this time 10,000,000,000 2nd dollars became 1 3rd dollar, after the parallel rate reached 500 billion to 1 US$.

More detailed data can be found in the table below:

Restoration of market data feeds

In the final months before Zimbabwe's central bank reforms of 30 April 2008, virtually all popular currency conversion resources relied upon the official rate of 30,000 ZWD to 1 USD for published figures, in spite of the vast differences between that and free market rates. By 23 May 2008, Bloomberg and Oanda began publishing floating rates based on Zimbabwe's formally regulated domestic bank market, while Yahoo Finance started using the updated official rate in July, albeit with a decimal point shift of 6 places. Those reported rates generally reflected the Official Rate as shown in the above table. They soon began to differ, in overvaluation of the Zimbabwean dollar, increasingly substantially in comparison to less regulated markets such as offshore markets or paper cash freely traded on the streets of Harare, reflected above as Parallel Rates.

Devaluation of the third dollar

On 1 August 2008, ten zeroes were removed from the currency, reducing 10 billion Zimbabwean dollars to one dollar. On 3 October 2008, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe temporarily suspended the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system, halting electronic parallel market transfers, but it was reinstated on 13 November 2008.

After being introduced on 1 August 2008, the third dollar continued to devalue.

An overview of the exchange rate data can be found in the table below:

Devaluation of the fourth dollar

On 2 February 2009, the RBZ removed 12 zeros from the currency, with 1,000,000,000,000 (third) Zimbabwe dollars being exchanged for 1 new (fourth) dollar. Although the dollar was abandoned on 12 April 2009, exchange rates were maintained at intervals for some months. Therefore, the fourth dollar would be worth 200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, or 2×10³⁵ first dollars if never revalued.

On 4 June 2015, it was announced that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe would exchange some of the old banknotes for US dollars.