Authorities in Zimbabwe have ordered banks to stop lending with immediate effect on Saturday.
Zimbabwe suspends bank lending
A security guard counts small denominations of USD money on March 14 2019, in the Mutoko rural area of Zimbabwe
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According to the governrment, the decision was taken to stop speculation against the Zimbabwean dollar and was part of a raft of measures to stop its rapid devaluation on the black market.
Zimbabwe reintroduced a local currency in 2019 after abandoning it in 2009 when it was hit by hyperinflation.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa accused unnamed speculators of borrowing Zimbabwe dollars at below-inflation interest rates and using the money to trade in foreign exchange.
The devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar’s black market exchange rate has been driving up inflation.
Year-on-year inflation reached 96.4% in April, from 60.6% in January.