Zimbabwe is asking if it can purchase South African coins for use in commerce, but since Zimbabwe is not a member of the Common Monetary Area the South African Reserve Bank has yet decide on the request.
The CMA is a monetary union comprised of Lesotho, South Africa, and Swaziland. Namibia was been a member of the CMA, but withdrew from the organisation in 1993. Botswana is also formerly a member, but replaced the South African rand with the pula in 1976.
Today the Namibian dollar is on par with the South African rand. Swaziland’s lilangeni and Lesothos’s loti currency is also on par with the rand, however the rand can circulate freely in these two nations, while it cannot in Namibia or Botswana.
SARB officials said discussions with Zimbabwe were on-going. Hlengani Mathebula is the head of the SARB strategy and communication department.
According to Mathebula, “Zimbabwe is not a member of the Common Monetary Area (CMA), but there are conversations that are happening with regards to the coins issue.
A decision has to be made at the highest level beyond the two central banks and that decision would be communicated.”
