Zimbabwe Now Printing More Money, Mthuli Ncube Reveals

Zimbabwe’s finance minister Mthuli Ncube has revealed that Zimbabwe is now printing more money.

The minister said on Twitter today that the objective is to raise funds for an $18 billion economic stimulus package.

Said Ncube:

Global Financing Facility discussion: I explained Zimbabwe’s $18 billion economic stimulus package. The package includes a combination of fiscal measures and budget re-prioritization, and monetary measures in the form Quantitative Easing and lowering lending rates.

Quantitative Easing is a monetary policy whereby a central bank injects money into an economy. It is generally considered to be an unconventional form of monetary policy.

President Mnangagwa announced the $18 billion stimulus package on 1 May. The objective of the package is to mitigate the negative impact caused by the novel coronavirus on the national economy. Mnangagwa said the package is equal to 9 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The government has long been accused of printing more money and thereby fueling inflation. Earlier this week, an opposition politician, Tendai Biti, accused the government of generating salaries through an “RTGS Ponzi scheme“.