Zambia’s central bank launched its rebased kwacha currency on Tuesday, removing three zeros from new denominations which will run side by side with the old bank notes until June this year.
“The new notes are a bit confusing because you still have figure out the number of zeros that have been removed before you transact,” said Nimon Kambole, a street vendor in the capital Lusaka.
Among its reasons for revaluing, the Bank of Zambia has stressed the problems that billions and trillions of kwacha cause for accountants and their software, most of which comes from rich countries where such large numbers are a rarity.
It has also cited difficulties experienced by the growing number of ATM and electronic payment system users among Zambia’s 13 million people.
The zeroes were a legacy of disastrous experiments in the 1970s and 80s with command-style economics. Investors expressed confidence in the southern African economy by vastly oversubscribing a debut $750 million eurobond.
