Zim to start using S African Rand?

Zimbabwe's inflation-ravaged economy could be rescued by switching to South Africa's currency in exchange for political concessions by President Robert Mugabe, South Africa's Sunday Independent newspaper reported yesterday.

Quoting unnamed sources, the paper said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was working on a plan to extend the rand monetary union to Zimbabwe, which would help stabilise the economic crisis in the country, where inflation has rocketed to 4,500%.

The monetary union, under which currencies are pegged to the rand, consists of South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland. The plan would also involve the central banks in South Africa and Botswana injecting huge amounts of funds into their counterpart bank in Zimbabwe, the paper said.