Financially strapped Zimbabwe hit a new low this week following reports that its stock exchange traded only a handful of shares to the value of $105 (R1,510) on Tuesday.

Zimbabwe publication, The Source, said that Tuesday represented the worst day of trade for the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) in seven years, while on Monday, the market had recorded turnover of $14,197 (R204,262).

By comparison, the average value traded on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) per day is R25 billion.

Stock brokers Lynton Edwards confirmed that the trade on the ZSE on Monday was the lowest volume since February, 2009 when Zimbabwe moved to a multi-currency system because of hyperinflation.

ZSE’s website showed that the $104.93 traded on Tuesday was for 6,995 Barclays Zimbabwe shares. The bourse has 63 listed companies.

The country limited cash withdrawals and shut down some ATMs in May, while civil servants in Zimbabwe have not been paid their salaries for several months as the country has run out of money.

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