Zimbabwe is replacing its collapsing local currency with a new one backed by gold and foreign currencies that it hopes will be more stable and help bring down inflation, the central bank has announced.

Harare

Zimbabwe is introducing a new currency, backed by gold and foreign currencies, as announced by the central bank. This move aims to replace Zimbabwe's local currency, which has been collapsing. The central bank's objective with the introduction of this new currency is to achieve greater stability and aid in reducing the country's inflation.



New gold backed currency replaces Zimbabwe dollar

People have just heard the news. Zimbabwe now has a new currency, another one. And this one is called Zimgold or ZIG, Z-I-G. People have 21 days to exchange these notes to the new notes that will be coming soon. And every time there's a new currency change in Zimbabwe, people get nervous. The new ZIG currency, as for me, for now I don't really know how it's going to help us in the future. Or it's just a continuation of how we have been experiencing the financial challenges here in this country. I don't know. If it's going to help us, then good for us. Officials at the Central Bank hope that this new currency will help stabilise the markets and rein in inflation. But the big question is, is it going to work? It could work in the short term, only if they maintain discipline, they stay away from printing. And they need to also guarantee convertibility between that and U.S. dollars. It might not work because the U.S. dollar balances are very small. 90% is on USD, so 10% really, everyone is looking for USD. So that will not stop the demand for U.S. dollars. Zimbabweans have been here before. Currency changes every couple of years. And when the currency changes, so does the name. For example, there used to be such a thing called Special Agro Checks. And then they moved to be called Bearer Checks, and then Bond Notes, and RTGS, etc., etc. And now when these new notes come to circulation, the ZIG notes, most Zimbabweans will try and change them to U.S. dollars before they get hit by inflation.

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