RTGS$ weakens 16% in first month

ZIMBABWE’S local currency, the RTGS dollar, has plunged by as much as 16% since it was introduced last month.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe scrapped its discredited 1:1 dollar peg for surrogate bond notes and electronic dollars last month, merging them into a lower-value transitional currency called the RTGS dollar as part of monetary policy measures to address the country’s currency challenges.

The RTGS dollar made its debut at 1:2,5 to the greenback on the official interbank platform, but on the parallel market, rates were as high as 3,5 to 3,8.

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