Protests as Zimbabwe issues 'zombie currency'

Zimbabwe has released a new currency in a bid to ease crippling cash shortages throughout the country.

More than $10m (£8m) worth of "bond notes" have been released, with their value pegged one-to-one against the US dollar, which has been the official currency since 2009, following the collapse of the economy in 2008.

They are "intended to reduce a shortage of hard currency that has led to delays of several months in salary payments to civil servants, the military and some private company employees", Bloomberg says.

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However, Forbes contributor Tim Worstall says issuing notes rather than buying hard currency directly from the US "is a good indication that there isn't the one-to-one cash to back them".

The move has been met by protests. "Many Zimbabweans doubt the government's ability to manage the new bond note system, with some shops refusing to accept the currency," CNBC says.

Taxi driver Freddie Sango, who works in Harare, told Bloomberg locals would only use the notes "to pay fines and bribes to the police".

He added: "People are calling it 'zombie money' because it's risen from the death of the Zimbabwe dollar and will be about as useful."

Matthew Davies, the editor of the BBC's Africa Business Report, says the notes are something of a gamble for Robert Mugabe's government.

He added: "If the current experiment with bond notes even looks like taking a step backward to the hyperinflation of seven years ago, not only will the economy's very survival be in jeopardy, so too will the government's."