Zimbabwe Needs To Drop The "Fake Dollar" And Dollarize - Prof Steve Hanke

Acclaimed economist and currency expert, Steve Hanke, who is a professor of Applied Economics and co-director of the Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise at the Johns Hopkins University has reiterated that Zimbabwe should dollarize completely and stop using pseudo currencies such as the bond note. After the fall of former president Robert Mugabe last year, Hanke advised President Emmerson Mnangagwa not to print money through the RTGS system and the issuance of Treasury Bills (TBs) to allow the country’s economy to recover. Commenting on the recent foreign currency shortages which have resulted in a shortage of drugs, Hanke said,

In Zimbabwe, excessive government control combined with an incompetent central bank equals havoc. RBZ has taken over the allocation of foreign currency to buy goods, leading to essential drug shortages. Drop the new Zim dollar (read: fake dollar) and dollarize…Panicked Zimbabweans have resorted to hoarding essential goods, as there is no public trust in the RBZ to handle macroeconomic policies. With inflation, by my measure, hovering around 50% per yr., I feel the Zimbabwean’s pain.

Back in December 2017, Hanke said,