Zimbabwe has suspended the use of its own currency for a year and instead continue using foreign currencies to help stabilize the local industry and economy.

"The Zimbabwe dollar will be out for at least a year ....because there is nothing to support and hold its value," AFP quoted Economic Planning and Development Minister Elton Mangoma as saying to the Sunday Mail, the state-run newspaper, on Sunday.

The African country is now using Botswana pula, the South African rand, the United States dollar, the Euro and the British pound as legal tender.

Mangoma earlier indicated that his agency was ready to shelve the local currency for at least one year to bolster the local industry by boosting exports.

The move aims to increase industrial output by at least 60 percent of capacity on average.

Last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Zimbabwe's Gross Domestic Product in 2008 fell 14 percent.

"Hyperinflation, driven by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's (RBZ) quasi-fiscal activities, and a further significant deterioration in the business climate contributed to an estimated 14 percent fall in real Gross Domestic Product in 2008, on top of the 40 percent cumulative decline during 2000-07," Vitaliy Karamenko, IMF Mission Chief for Zimbabwe, said in a statement.

"A steep decline in economic activity and public services contributed to a significant deterioration in the humanitarian situation in 2008," he said.

According to Karamenko, the recently formed government of national unity has launched a Short-Term Emergency Recovery Program (STERP) that may help in lowering the country's inflation rate, curbing economic downturn and improving social conditions.

"To improve the functioning of the new monetary framework, there is an urgent need to enable the payments system to process transactions in foreign currency and adapt banking supervision to the risks of operating in foreign exchange," Karamenko added.

But it is not clear if suspending the Zimbabwean dollar is part of the STERP.