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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Zimbabwe banks open over holidays | Zimbabwe banks open over holidays |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Banks in Zimbabwe will remain open on Christmas Day and Boxing Day to allow people to change temporary currency into new banknotes before 31 December. | Banks in Zimbabwe will remain open on Christmas Day and Boxing Day to allow people to change temporary currency into new banknotes before 31 December. |
| Central Bank Governor Gideon Gono made the announcement after introducing higher denomination notes last week in a bid to tackle serious cash shortages. | Central Bank Governor Gideon Gono made the announcement after introducing higher denomination notes last week in a bid to tackle serious cash shortages. |
| But the move has failed to reduce the long bank queues of recent weeks. | But the move has failed to reduce the long bank queues of recent weeks. |
| The country is already suffering from rampant inflation, mass unemployment and shortages of fuel and basic goods. | The country is already suffering from rampant inflation, mass unemployment and shortages of fuel and basic goods. |
| Critics of President Robert Mugabe accuse him of allowing the economy to go to ruin but he has remained defiant, blaming the problems on a Western plot to oust him from power. | Critics of President Robert Mugabe accuse him of allowing the economy to go to ruin but he has remained defiant, blaming the problems on a Western plot to oust him from power. |
| Sleeping in queues | Sleeping in queues |
| Lovemore Matombo, president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, told the BBC it was hoped the queues would disappear within a day after the higher notes were introduced last week. | Lovemore Matombo, president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, told the BBC it was hoped the queues would disappear within a day after the higher notes were introduced last week. |
| I was supposed to go on holiday, but I'm still around because I can't get cash ZCTU's Lovemore Matombo In pictures: Rural hardship | I was supposed to go on holiday, but I'm still around because I can't get cash ZCTU's Lovemore Matombo In pictures: Rural hardship |
| But this had not been the case and people are still sleeping outside banks in the hope of getting cash before Christmas, he said. | But this had not been the case and people are still sleeping outside banks in the hope of getting cash before Christmas, he said. |
| "Tomorrow is Christmas day and still people are queuing throughout the country," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme. | "Tomorrow is Christmas day and still people are queuing throughout the country," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme. |
| "I was supposed to go on holiday, but I'm still around because I can't get cash." | "I was supposed to go on holiday, but I'm still around because I can't get cash." |
| Mr Gono said the problem stemmed from banks wanting to deal with business clients first. | Mr Gono said the problem stemmed from banks wanting to deal with business clients first. |
| "The focus of the banking operations on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday would be to attend to the requirements of individuals rather than corporates," he told Zimbabwe's state-run Sunday Mail newspaper. | "The focus of the banking operations on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday would be to attend to the requirements of individuals rather than corporates," he told Zimbabwe's state-run Sunday Mail newspaper. |
| Notes worth 250,000, 500,000 and 750,000 Zimbabwean dollars entered circulation last Thursday. | Notes worth 250,000, 500,000 and 750,000 Zimbabwean dollars entered circulation last Thursday. |
| The 200,000 dollar bill is being phased out by 31 December, despite only being introduced in July. | The 200,000 dollar bill is being phased out by 31 December, despite only being introduced in July. |
| Zimbabwe has the highest level of inflation in the world at more than 8,000%. | Zimbabwe has the highest level of inflation in the world at more than 8,000%. |
| Are you planning to spend your Christmas in a bank queue? How are you coping with the cash shortage? Let us know using the form below. | |