Harare: 

Shocking! Zimbabwe recently introduced a Z$100 billion note

Pictures of Zimbabweans paying for a loaf of bread with sacks full of cash may be a thing of the past as the government slashes ten zeros from the currency.

Zimbabwe's astronomical levels of inflation, which have made basic goods unaffordable, will be artificially deflated next month.

Gideon Gono, governor of the central bank said, "The Zimbabwe dollar will be redenominated by a factor of one to 10, which means we are removing 10 zeros from our monetary value. Ten billion Zimbabwean dollars today will be reduced to one dollar effective from August 1."

Inflation is now pegged at 2.2 million per cent a year, but independent analysts estimate it to be closer to 12.5 million per cent.