'Dollarisation' in Zimbabwe and the death of an industry

bibliographic database
Line

Periodical article

Title:	'Dollarisation' in Zimbabwe and the death of an industry
Author:	Pilossof, Rory
Year:	2009
Periodical:	Review of African Political Economy
Volume:	36
Issue:	120
Pages:	294-299
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Zimbabwe
Subjects:	money illicit trade monetary policy inflation
External link:	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056240903083441
Abstract:	The last three to four years have seen Zimbabwe's inflation problem escalate to unmanageable levels. In 2009, there were a number of important developments that have restructured the way that both the 'formal' and 'informal' sectors of the country's suffering economy work and interact. These essentially revolve around the 'dollarization' of the economy, a move which has been long called for, but one that both the Zanu (PF) government and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) have been resisting for some time. In 2009, the author observed and interviewed money traders on the streets of Harare, who now find themselves facing a collapse of their primary mode of income. This provides a remarkable insight into the byzantine processes of the black market and gives indications as to why the government has been so reluctant to 'dollarize': the government itself was systematically involved in driving and benefiting from the black market/parallel economy. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]