Zimbabwe is on a three-day nationwide strike and protests are erupting in the streets after the government of the southern African country doubled fuel prices, making gasoline sold in Zimbabwe the most expensive in the world.
Zimbabwe police fire tear gas at protesters in Bulawayo
Zimbabwe is in the midst of an economic crisis and a shortage of foreign exchange, which has led to fuel and bread shortages, and many companies have stopped working because they can’t import raw materials.
Following hyperinflation in 2009, Zimbabwe abolished its own currency and has been using the US dollar and South African rand instead.
But the economic crisis and foreign currency shortages has prompted the government to say over the weekend that it would introduce a new currency of its own in the next 12 months.
However, the policy that really sparked protests and calls for a national stay-away was the sharp increase of fuel prices over the weekend.
According to Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa—who succeeded the president of 38 years Robert Mugabe in November 2017—the doubling of the fuel prices would help ease fuel shortages.
Source: RT.Com
