adminMoody’s said recently that plans by Zimbabwe to increase the circulation of the Chinese yuan could lift investment from the world’s second-largest economy but may not be enough to strengthen investor confidence and improve competitiveness. Zimbabwe abandoned its currency in 2009 after inflation reached 500-billion percent and adopted foreign currencies, anchored by the US dollar, to tame runaway consumer prices and start an economic recovery.
The US dollar is widely used, along with the rand and the finance minister and central bank governor said in December that Zimbabwe would now increase the use of the yuan.
“The renminbi’s use is likely to facilitate greater levels of foreign direct investment from and bilateral trade with China by reducing transaction costs and exchange rate risk,” Moody’s said in a report on Zimbabwe.
China has in the past few years invested more than $1billion in Zimbabwe, becoming the largest investor after the Southern African nation was shunned by the West after illegal sanctions were imposed.
Moody’s, which has never rated Zimbabwe, said widespread use of the yuan could be limited by a population that has more confidence in the US and is suspicious of other currencies. – Reuters.
Online Reporter