Zimbabwean banks will not lend to stop the currency’s slide.

Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa implemented capital controls to control the rapid depreciation of the currency.

The Zimbabwean dollar has lost half its value this year, making it Africa’s worst-performing currency.

Annual inflation rose from 72.7% to 96.4% in April.

In a televised speech, Mnangagwa ordered banks in the country to “stop lending to banks to prevent abuse to manipulate the exchange rate.”

According to the government statement, the decision to stop speculation against the Zimbabwean dollar was made and was part of a series of measures to stop the rapid devaluation of the black market.

Zimbabwe reintroduced its local currency in 2019 after abandoning it in 2009 when hyperinflation hit.

The devaluation of the black market exchange rate of the Zimbabwean dollar increases inflation.