The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has rejected calls by industrialists and economists to adopt the rand as its official currency, reports FTW Online.

South Africa’s neighbour has faced ongoing cash shortages which local bond notes have failed to address and which have affected trade and industrialisation of the country. The bond notes, which have equal value to the US dollar, were introduced in Zimbabwe late last year but they remain in short supply.

John Mangudya, reserve bank governor, was cited by state-owned newspaper The Herald as saying that adoption of the rand as official currency in Zimbabwe “was out of the question”.

According to him, the problem was not currency but poor local production and high imports.