BREAKING: The Chinese Yuan Becomes Official Currency in Zimbabwe

by Mathew Ogunsina
about 20 hours ago

This is another milestone set by Beijing to be in the court of the great powers, those whose currency refers. As of January 1, the yuan (or remimbi) rub shoulders with the US dollar, South African rand and the Botswana pula in the pockets of the people of Zimbabwe.

It must be said that the situation in this country is special. He has no national currency since 2009. The failed land reform President-dictator Robert Mugabe has led to a severe economic crisis that the government tried to stop cranking printing money. Result: hyperinflation than 500,000,000,000% according to the IMF. In 2009, the face value of the last break of the Zimbabwean dollar circulated by the national bank of the country had reached a surreal level: 100.000 billion!

This colossal runaway had forced the country to bury the dollar and instead use foreign currencies. This summer, the last ticket holders could exchange to the central bank over $ 1 to 35 million Zimbabwean billion. An absolutely dizzying exchange rate.
Xi Jinping has mobilized to impose the yuan

The yuan, he built several months ago the basket of currencies that make up the foreign exchange reserves of Zimbabwe. And so, in 2016, it can be used for all payments of daily life. To succeed in imposing and its currency, China has multiplied gestures of goodwill. Xi Jinping, the president, whose movements are rare, personally went to Harare, the capital, in early December, with some arguments in the round.