Zimbabwe permits shops to deal in foreign money

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe on Thursday authorised a small number of the country's businesses to sell goods for foreign currency.

Gideon Gono, the governor of the Reserve Bank, said that the institution would grant licences to 1,250 businesses to accept foreign currency for a period of 18 months.

The move is aimed at alleviating the country's food and fuel shortages, Gono said.

The governor emphasised that the Zimbabwean dollar was still the official currency and that the licences were not a