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ZIMBABWE issued its own currency for the first time since 2009 yesterday in a bid to ease shortages of the US dollar.
Banks started issuing the new currency, termed bond notes, with their value pegged to the dollar.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe said the new notes will come in $2 (£1.61) and $5 (£4.03) denominations, although only $2 notes are being issued on Monday.
The currency is backed by a $200 million (£161m) bond facility with Afreximbank, The Reserve Bank said in a statement on Saturday.
It is hoped the move will ease the cash shortage that has caused long bank queues for withdrawals, with some people even sleeping outside branches for the chance to take out a few dollars.
But some Zimbabweans expressed fears the new notes would soon become worthless through hyperinflation like the Zimbabwean dollar scrapped in 2009.
Inflation rates of 500 billion per cent then led to the issuing of 100 trillion dollar notes.
