police had set up road blocks to coerce money out of tourists and there were protests throughout Zimbabwe, Patrick Chinamasa, the finance minister, toured Europe in an effort to raise investment capital and loans, admitting "Right now we have nothing." In August 2016 the government announced that it would be laying off 25,000 civil servants (8% of the country's 298,000 civil servants), cut the number of embassies and diplomatic expenses and cut ministerial expenses in an attempt to save $4 billion in annual wages and secure help from the World Bank and the IMF. At the same time, the government sought to improve women's access to microfinance via the Zimbabwe Women Microfinance Bank Limited, which began operations 29 May 2018. The Bank operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Women's Affairs, Gender and Community Development. Re-adoption of the Zimbabwe Dollar In mid-July 2019 inflation had increased to 175% following the adoption of a new Zimbabwe dollar and banning the use of foreign currency thereby sparking fresh concerns that the country was entering a new period of hyperinflation. The Zimbabwean government stopped releasing inflation data in August 2019. The year-on-year inflation rate was 521% in December 2019, but Zimbabwe central bank officials said in February 2020 that they hoped to reduce the figure to 50% by the end of December 2020. See also Science and technology in Zimbabwe Economy of Africa Economic history of Zimbabwe Education in Zimbabwe History of Zimbabwe Zimbabwean dollar Tobacco in Zimbabwe United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Sources References External links The Economic Policies of Zimbabwe Zimbabwe latest trade data on ITC Trade Map CIA World Fact Book MBendi Zimbabwe overview World Bank Zimbabwe Summary Trade Statistics Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Zimbabwe