Zimbabwe Dollar Takes a Severe Battering

Harare — THE Zimbabwe dollar dived to new lows on both the formal and parallel markets this week, under intense pressure from dealers vying for a lucrative slice of the recently deregulated fuel import business.

The dollar sank to $17 694.15 on the formal foreign currency auction Monday from $10 745.01 just before the July 21 monetary policy statement, but a steeper plunge was seen on the black market where illegal dealers called the Zimdollar/US dollar rate at over $40 000. The local unit had been trading at $25 000 last week. The South African rand was selling at Z$6 000, but desperate buyers were prepared to pay Z$7 300.

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