Zimbabwe presented its 2024 budget in Zimbabwe dollars, though more than 80% of the transactions in the country are in United States dollars, because people must accept that the Zimbabwe dollar is the country’s domestic currency, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said.

He was responding to contributions in the Senate during the debate for next’s budget. Chief Ngungubane asked why the minister had presented the budget in the local currency when the US dollar dominated the market and some institutions did not accept the local currency.

“I gave the budget in Zimbabwean dollars and perhaps he was wondering why set it in Zimbabwean dollars.  I should be giving a United States dollar equivalent.  That we can do.  There is no problem but then we must accept that the Zimbabwean dollar is our domestic currency.  So that is our starting point.  We can always give the United States dollar equivalent,” Ncube said.

“He made a very important point that we should insist that certain services be paid for in domestic currency.  I agree with him.  That is why we have tried to say corporate tax, for example 50% of it should be paid in Zimbabwean dollars and we will keep expanding the type of services that ought to be paid in domestic currency.”

“The issue that still bothers me, the Senate and everybody, is the issue of the exchange rate instability. That is our ultimate challenge that we need to deal with and it is linked to the past, the hyperinflation, the past that we have lived through. The fact that we did not for 10 years have a domestic currency, we had a US dollar and now we have ours and some feel that it is not good enough, those are the facts.