lex Mupondi hangs one dollar notes on a drying line after washing them in Harare, Zimbabwe. AFP photo

U.S. bank notes often change hands until they fall apart.

Some have become almost too smelly to handle, so some people and businesses put their U.S. dollar bills, especially low denomination ones, through the spin cycle and hanging them up to dry with clothes pins alongside sheets and items of clothing.

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Because the country cannot meet the U.S. dollar supply demand, the lifespan of a dollar far exceeds the intended life span or what the U.S. Federal Reserve intends.

Zimbabwe's inclusive Government officially declared the U.S. dollar legal tender last year to tame hyperinflation.

The U.S. Federal Reserve destroys about 7,000 tons of worn-out money every year. It says the average $1 bill circulates in the United States for about 20 months.

Larger denominations coming in through banks and formal import and export trade are less soiled.

This news comes as businesses in parts of the country have expressed concern that the country does not have its own currency.

Businesses in remote parts of the country do not have access to the elusive U.S. dollars and no coins to use as change.

Former Acting Minister of Finance Patrick Chinamasa had suggested that the U.S. dollar be used as legal tender concurrent with the local currency, inorder to facilitate transactions.

The present Minister of Finance Tendai Biti reversed the policy and completely abolished the use of the Zimbabwean dollar.