Zimbabwe's central bank will lay off 74% of its workers as part of a drive to return focus to its core role as a monetary authority, the bank's chief said yesterday.

Staff levels at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe grew more than tenfold between 2003 and 2008 as it spearheaded a drive to pull the economy out of a severe crisis many blamed on President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.

The bank's governor Gideon Gono told a parliamentary committee that the bank would lay off at least 1600 employees, but state media said he had been granted permission to discuss the retrenchment costs in a private session.

"We are looking at retrenching 74% of the central bank's staff," Gono said.

He was not available for comment yesterday.