Government is the country`s largest employer, and by implication influences the spending patterns of large swathes of consumers. Establishing the exact number of civil servants under its employ is an imprecise endeavour. In an interview in August 2019, finance minister Mthuli Ncube noted that the total government payroll was about 400,000 individuals a month. Separately, some estimates put the total number of civil servants excluding those in the security forces at 250,000. Meanwhile, a 2019, Labour Force survey by ZimStat, reveals that some 249,000 people, representing 2% of the population, receive a monthly pension or some social security funds. A conservative estimate would thus arrive at a monthly amount of at least US$37.8 million, that government will be paying its workers, as part of the recently announced COVID-19 allowances, running until August 2020. Converted at the ruling interbank rate of 57, this translates
Zimbabwe`s troubled history with bank notes enters a new chapter as fresh notes come into circulation.
Notaphilists – people who study or collect paper money – are likely salivating and dusting their collections of Zimbabwe`s bank notes, as they prepare to add to their collections, yet another series of notes as the country`s uneasy relationship with its currency continues. The RBZ has announced a new series of ZWL$10 and ZWL$20 notes to start circulating in the economy, starting with the ZWL$10 note already in circulation, and the ZWL$20 note to come in the first week of June. Not only that, it has also announced the upward revision of withdrawal limits from ZWL$300 to ZWL$1,000 per week. Not that it is unclear to anyone, this revision in withdrawal limits to some measure portends the growing trouble the economy is facing. Hyperinflation. This then begs the question, why not just go for the jugular and issue say a ZWL$50 and a ZWL$100 note? Introduction into Circulation of $10 and $20 Dollar Banknotes pic.twitter.com/sv4kjDFtOa — Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (@ReserveBankZIM) May 15, 20