Government’s Z$ campaign a ‘surefire losing war’

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THE American dollar’s growing use in Zimbabwe — as manifested by the government’s expanding hard currency exemptions for many sectors — lays bare the daunting challenges that authorities face as they chase market de-dollarisation, experts say.
This comes as senior government officials, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Finance minister Mthuli Ncube, have asserted implausibly in recent times that the mono-currency push is here to stay, and that de-dollarisation will happen in time.

“All the evidence suggests that de-dollarisation has not worked. The government itself keeps announcing exemptions … It (the de-dollarisation push) is clearly a losing battle,” Tony Hawkins, an economist, told The Financial Gazette this week.