Commercial Banks' Intermediation in Zimbabwe - 2009 to 2010 : Effectiveness Interrogated

The Zimbabwean economy has been falling from grace since the late twentieth century as echoed by the documented record inflation levels. The facets of the economy struggled to survive with failures, closures and takeovers taking center stage. Barring regulatory changes by the Central Bank, somehow the banking sector seemed immune to these macro-economic changes. Nonetheless, two banking crises occurred within a space of five years before the eventual dollarization of the economy the the monetary and fiscal authorities in 2009. The fate of banking in Zimbabwe was not made easier by an equally devastating Global Financial Crisis such that survival strategies became of paramount importance rather that traditional banking as before. As the post dollarization era wears on, banking in Zimbabwe must be put under the microscope to determine its contribution to economic growth and development in a liquidity starved economy.