According to New Zimbabwe.com, Reserve bank of Zimbabwe deputy governor Kapukile Mlambo said that they were going to be content if the public used the South African rand more than the US dollar.

Mlambo's remarks came as cash shortages in the southern African country continued to bite.

Zimbabwe introduced its own surrogacy currency dubbed the "bond notes" last year, but the move has failed to address the cash problem.

"We will be happy in the central bank if people use the rand more than they would use the other currencies... We can benchmark pricing with the rand, which we can't do with the [US] dollar because we trade almost nothing with the US," Mlambo was quoted as saying.

Zimbabwean firms last year urged the government to adopt the South African rand as its "reference currency" instead of the US dollar.

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries reportedly argued at the time that while the country's unique "multi-currency system" should be maintained, all financial reporting must be done in rand.

The group said that the rand was becoming more attractive, as the southern African country continued to face an "acute liquidity crisis of cash dollars".

Zimbabwe abandoned its own currency in 2009 and now uses mainly the US dollar and the South African rand, although other currencies are also legal tender.

- News24.com