Bond notes, US dollar, RTGS and so on keep Zimbabwe’s economic machine in motion. As far as the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is concerned, these are officially at a one to one ratio. But, as those living Zimbabwe at the moment know, that is not the case at all!
Zimbabwe’s economy has once again gone into freefall and on the ground that one to one ratio is non-existent. The past few weeks has seen the various rates fluctuate quite drastically. This has lead to various shortages for commodities such as fuel, gas, cooking oil and bread just to name a few.
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Businesses have had to resort to limiting the quantities bought per person on certain items. As far as payment goes, in some instances, some businesses are offering a mix and match of tiered pricing depending on your method of payment. In others, swipe and EcoCash are being shunned and they only accept hard cash be it Bond or US (once again with different prices for each). Further to that, some will only do business with you if you are paying in US dollars (which by all rights is illegal but who is going to police and bring them to account?).
For a short while, queuing for necessities such as fuel, gas and cooking oil had once again become the order of the day. As at writing of this piece, the queues are now few and far between. In some cases, you can expect to wait a little while for some of those basics.
No one wants to go back to 2008 and some are trying to buffer themselves in the event of a possible economic disintegration. People are hoarding (if they can afford) for personal use as a just in case. Some speculators are hoarding to sell on the black market for well above market value when the time is right.
One thing that is for certain is that there is economic uncertainty. Prices are on the rise and the 2% tax on electronic transactions has made cash king and more so the United States Dollar.
To get USD in Zimbabwe, the options include but aren’t limited to, buying it from money changers on the black market, from family and friends visiting the country and through a remittance service provider such as WorldRemit.
WorldRemit provides a money transfer service that provides users with a quick, secure and low cost way of sending money to more than 145 countries around the world. In the case of Zimbabwe, they provide a number of options through which recipients can receive money and theses include, bank transfer, cash pickup, mobile money (EcoCash) and airtime top up.
At this point in time, cash pickup’s are the most logical because at the moment, WorldRemit guarantees USD cash pick up in Zimbabwe. They have partnered with a number of institutions throughout the country from which cash can be collected. They include Steward Bank, CBZ, ZB Bank, Kaah Express, Quest Financial Services and more (click here for a full list of pickup locations).
To add to their competitive rates and low fees, WorldRemit also has a refer a friend program where users get rewarded with cash to put towards your next transfer. For example, if someone in the UK refers a friend (via a unique code on the refer a friend page), once the friend sends £100 or more, the referrer gets emails and £20 WorldRemit voucher code.
So, if you have someone overseas looking to send money home or it you yourself want to send money home, consider using WorldRemit; Sign up today and get Zero fees on your first money transfer – use promotion code FREE!
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