Top US economist Steve Hanke ranks Zimbabwe's currency as second worst globally

By bne IntelliNews March 13, 2025

A prominent American applied economics professor, Steve Hanke, has ranked Zimbabwe's 11-month-old currency as the second worst performer worldwide, estimating it has lost 50% of its value on-year against the dollar.

Writing on his X handle on March 11, the John Hopkins University lecturer said the Zimbabwe Gold (ZWG) was only outperformed by the Venezuelan bolivar, which he said has weakened on-year by 52% against the greenback.

Hanke ranked the Iranian rial as the third worst tender globally having lost 33% of its value against the dollar. Ethiopia's birr, he added, has weakened by 24% year-on-year. 

Zimbabwe introduced the ZWG in April 2024 after inflation had destroyed its immediate predecessor, the bond. 

Bloomberg estimates that the note has weakened by up to 96% since then.  It was trading at 26.6 to the US dollar as at noon Zimbabwe time on March 13 but was substantially weaker on the parallel market at between 30 and 35.

Annualised US-dollar inflation was at 15% in February 2025 from 11.5% in January. ZWG inflation was pegged at 0.5% on a monthly basis in February 2025, from 10.5% in the month prior.

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