KEY POINTS
- By 2030, RBZ wants to make Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) the only legal currency.
- The current multi-currency framework lets ZiG and other currencies work together.
- Cutting inflation to 30 percent by 2025 and subsequently to single digits are important goals.
The central bank of Zimbabwe plans to finish converting to a single currency system by 2030. The Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) will be the only legal tender for transactions within the country.
The country now operates a multi-currency system, allowing the ZiG to circulate alongside the US dollar and other foreign currencies. By 2030, however, authorities plan to make the ZiG the sole currency for all local transactions.
Slow change
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) made it clear that the change is not a re-denomination but a gradual adjustment meant to boost confidence in the local currency.
People and businesses will still be able to have both ZiG and foreign currency accounts. The central bank warned that foreign currency balances will need to be changed into ZiG for transactions inside the country.
Milestones in policy
The RBZ set important goals to help with the transition: increasing foreign reserves to cover at least three to six months of imports, lowering annual inflation to 30 percent by the end of 2025 and to single digits after that, and keeping the exchange rate stable with a parallel market premium below 30 percent.
The company also expects refined volumes to improve as it optimises furnace strategies and maintenance protocols and gradually draws down excess PGM inventories, a process it plans to complete by FY2029.
Trust and stability
The RBZ was sure that people and businesses would slowly start using the ZiG as their main currency once things settled down, which would further make the mono-currency system possible.
Banks will still be able to meet legal foreign currency needs for things like travel, medical costs, and imports during the transition.
Furthermore, the central bank called the process “organic” and “market-driven,” and it was backed by policy changes that were meant to lead to a stable, ZiG-based economy in the end.
