Just when life could not become any harder for Zimbabweans, who are already having to cope with food and fuel shortages and rocketing prices, local banks have run out of notes.

Long queues of people waiting to draw cash have been a common sight outside banks for the past two weeks. "Yesterday I came here at 4 a.m. but by 3 p.m., when the branch closed, I had not managed to get anything," said Janet Sibanda, who lives in the capital, Harare.

The crisis has inevitably bred a new kind of dealer, providing cash for a commission. They include bank tellers who moonlight as currency sellers after work, illegal foreign currency dealers, shop managers and even sports administrators, who receive cash after matches.

"Sometimes these people ... charge you as much as 40 percent of what you need, meaning that if you ask for Z$200 million (about US$143), you can only receive Z$120 million (about $86)," said John Kangai, a self-employed carpenter.

"People are taking advantage of others because of the prevailing economic crisis, but that is not fair. I am struggling to make ends meet and the greedy are seeing an opportunity in the crisis to make quick and lazy money."

A parallel market cash dealer, who identified himself as Jeff, defended the practice, saying, "You need to be well-connected for your life to run smoothly." He claimed he sourced currency from tellers working at various financial institutions, and usually used local currency to buy foreign currency, which he also traded for a higher price on the parallel market.

Blame seasonal demand

Gideon Gono, governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), has acknowledged the cash crisis but said it was a sign of the demand for money as the Christmas season approached.

"This is not to say we cannot do anything," he told businesspeople and journalists at a briefing on 20 November. "We have pumped a lot of money into the market through various interventions, which is not supported by production ... and we are waiting to see what happens."

He urged companies handling large amounts of cash to surrender it to banks. The RBZ said Z$58 trillion (about US$41 million at the parallel market rate of US1 dollar to Z$1.4 million) was in circulation.

While individuals cannot draw more than Z$5 million (about US$4), companies have to contend with a maximum withdrawal of Z$20 million (about US$14), which used to be the limit for persons making ordinary withdrawals.

History repeating itself

Despite his insistence on 20 November that the central bank would not interfere, the following day Gono announced that Zimbabwe would introduce new bank notes to replace the bearer cheques (essentially, money printed on ordinary paper) introduced as a temporary measure in 2003. He did not say when the new currency would be introduced, but stressed that the "time has now come that swift measures be taken".

Zimbabwe's currency was devalued in late July 2006 when the Reserve Bank carried out a sting operation, introducing new notes with three zeros knocked off that took thousands of bulk cash holders by surprise and wiped out the savings of many ordinary people. The new notes were an attempt to halt the economic meltdown and relieve Zimbabweans from carrying wads of cash.

The exercise, codenamed Operation Sunrise 1, forced people to surrender their old notes to the Reserve Bank in an unrealistically short space of time.

The prevailing cash problems are similar to those of 2003, when banks almost ran out of cash, forcing the government to introduce short-lived traveller's cheques that could only be used locally. Gono took over as RBZ governor in December 2003 and replaced the traveller's cheques with the bearer notes.

Hyperinflation the cause

Inflation is so intense that people need up to six times the amount of money that they required a month ago to buy the same commodity. On the other hand, the RBZ has stopped printing more money because, I understand, their printing machine has broken down

Eric Bloch, an economist and consultant to the RBZ, said the cash crisis was mainly due to hyperinflation. "Inflation is so intense that people need up to six times the amount of money that they required a month ago to buy the same commodity. On the other hand, the RBZ has stopped printing more money because, I understand, their printing machine has broken down," Bloch told IRIN.

Zimbabwe's inflation rate is officially pegged at almost 8,000 percent - the new rate has yet to be announced - but various independent economists have put inflation at nearer to 15,000 percent. The prices of basic commodities increase almost every day.

Besides having the highest inflation figure in the world, Bloch said, "there is no doubt that a huge amount of the cash is circulating outside the financial system". Foreign currency rates in the parallel market have been rising sharply, he pointed out, costing larger wads of Zim dollars.

Critics blame Zimbabwe's seven-year economic crisis on the government's mismanagement: the ruling party accuses western powers of "sanctions" to force regime change.