The country has a history of hyperinflation, abandoning its currency in 2009 - so it is understandably nervous. It does not want to see history repeat itself.

In response, the president unexpectedly stepped in over the weekend announcing on state TV that all banks had to suspend lending.

Businesses were also banned from importing from one country but paying in another for goods - to curb money laundering.

There are also higher transaction fees for foreign currency transfers.

This is all because the government says some businesses have been borrowing huge sums of local money to buy US dollars on the black market.

Even though these rates are high, businesses say it is safer to keep their money in US dollars as that does not lose value.

From January to the first week of May the local currency depreciated by 52% to Z$165 against the US dollar - officially.

However on the black market, which many believe reflects the true value, $1 is trading for between Z$340 and Z$400.

The business community is unhappy about the president’s measures - and in a circular to financial institutions, Zimbabwe’s Reserve Bank has now said it will allow some pre-approved lending on a “case-by-case basis”, seemingly cycling back given the anger.

The Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce said Saturday's measures would expose businesses to predatory loans and “usurious interest rates”.

Banks could also be affected, as up to 40% of their business is lending.

But some business owners who spoke to the BBC anonymously said that some of the measures could be positive if they helped rein in inflation, which stood at just over 96% in April.

“Gains of reduced inflation far outweigh the rate of lending but only if the suspension is for a brief period of time,” one man said.