Zimbabwe's unauthorized foreign currency dealers face jail

A forex dealer offers bond notes and South African Rand outside a bank Harare, Zimbabwe. [Photo: Reuters]

HARARE - Unlicensed foreign currency traders in Zimbabwe face up to 10 years in jail if convicted and loss of their money and assets when new exchange control rules are published this week, a senior government official said on Sunday.

The southern African nation, which adopted the US dollar after dumping its hyperinflation-hit currency in 2009, is gripped by a shortage of cash dollars, which has seen prices of imported goods spiral in recent weeks.