If you have 250 trillion Zimbabwean dollars in cash, you have only $1.
This is why the people of the country will troop to the banks next week to start exchanging their worthless currency for the US dollar.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) said on Thursday that President Robert Mugabe’s government has finally decided to legally end the local dollar after it was ruined by hyperinflation, which hit 500 billion percent in 2008 forcing the country to print the 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollars.
It had since adopted foreign currencies like the US dollar and the South African rand.
A statement by the central bank Governor John Mangudya said customers who held Zimbabwean dollar accounts before March 2009 can visit their banks to convert their Zimbabwean dollar balance into US dollar as from Monday.
The apex bank has earmarked $20 million to pay Zimbabwean dollar currency holders.
Zimbabweans who want dollars for the local currency have until September to do so.
But some might have seen a better value for the old bank notes in selling them to tourists.
Bank accounts with balances of up to 175 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars will be paid $5, according to Reuters.
The RBZ has set an exchange rate of 35,000,000,000,000,000,000 Zimbabwean dollar to $1.
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Source: Ventures Africa