Journalist Hopewell Chin,ono says ,The Zimbabwean government has arrested 65 illegal money changers after the new currency, called the ZiG, lost 47.4% of its value on the black market in less than two weeks of being introduced on April the 8th.
The ZiG is pegged at 13.56 to the US Dollar, but it has crashed and is now being traded at 20 to the US Dollar on the black market.
Zimbabwean state media published pictures this evening of the illegal money changers outside the Harare Magistrates Court after their arrests.
The illegal money changers have been remanded in custody until Monday for bail applications.
The ZiG was launched by the Zimbabwean central bank amid much pomp and fanfare on April 8th in an effort to tame inflation which is now the highest in the world at 2647%.
The Zimbabwean dollar, which is being demonetised and replaced by the ZiG, lost over 96% of its value in just 12 months.
The Zimbabwean Finance Minister, Mthuli Ncube, said he had no idea why the new currency has lost so much value on the black market.
“I can’t even understand where this is coming from.
The fiscus remains very tight and I wonder what really is driving such premiums,” Ncube said.
Recently former Norton legislature Themba Mliswa commented that the real people behind the money changers are well known but noone is willing to do something about it.
He further said:
Guess who the godfathers for these moneychangers are? Untouchable and beyond the reach of the law. It’s futile. Same scenario played out in the case of people who were benefitting from Zimdollar fuel. Parliament requested the list of names and it never came.
Mangudya was blamed& all but it’s the system that is rotten. In your hearts of hearts you know the root cause but you can’t say it and ultimately you choose peace. That’s Zimbabweans for you. The rogue leaders know themselves and privately fret in the knowledge of their deeds.
This echoes the problems that Zimbabwe has had with the bond notes . Former opposition leader Nelson Chamisa has echoes the same message that a change in currency without confidence in the currency will repeat the same cycle that Zimbabwe has been facing