RBZ: Don't Panic, Zimbabwe Sticking to Multiple Currency SystemWASHINGTON DC — The central bank says market players and the banking community should stop panicking over reports that the incoming Zanu PF government will soon re-introduce the Zimbabwe dollar as the country will continue using multiple currencies. In a statement, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono, said, “I wish to emphatically dismiss those rumors and to confirm that there are no plans whatsoever, within and outside the bank, for the immediate or near-term introduction of new currency or re-introduction of the Zimbabwe dollar into our system.” Mr. Gono said President Robert Mugabe stated the same position last week saying that “when the time comes, we will be very cautious and gradual about it.” He said, “It may be the wishes of some stakeholders in debates, and this is a free country where freedom of speech, thought or wish is allowed, that the Zimdollar be returned immediately but these are just wishes.” The RBZ governor said the multi-currency regime “will be with us for the foreseeable future and in any case, when the time comes, the local currency will circulate alongside other existing currencies with people exercising their choice of currency to hold.” He further noted that there are preconditions which must be fulfilled in order to make the return of the local currency technically feasible, financially viable to the economy and economically sustainable. “Stakeholders are also advised that the multi-currency regime is not an area of emotional choice or option but rather a measure officially introduced in January 2009 as part of our adaptive economic strategy and a pragmatic response to the challenges of the day,” he noted. Zimbabwe recorded historic hyperinflationary rates between 2000 and 2008 owing to the invasion of white-owned commercial farms by Zanu PF supporters and related socio-economic and political challenges.