PRETORIA, July 5. /TASS/. Zimbabwe's new currency, the Zimbabwean Gold (ZiG), will become the sole means of payment in the country over the next 2 years and will displace the US dollar from the national monetary system.
„In 2 years we will see ZiG spread across the country and shops will refuse to accept US dollars from customers”, said Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
US dollar transactions currently account for about 80% of all transactions in Zimbabwe's financial system, including retail sales. The ZiG is the sixth national currency to be launched in Zimbabwe in the last 15 years. The government abandoned the previous currencies due to hyperinflation when million dollar bills were in circulation. Thus, in 2008-2009, the Central Bank of Zimbabwe issued Zimbabwe dollars with a nominal value of 100 trillion.
In April, the Central Bank started issuing a new national currency. ZiG is backed by 100 tons of gold and USD 100 million in government foreign exchange reserves. Since then, however, the ZiG has depreciated against the US currency by 1.5%. Thus, at the beginning of trading on July 5 in the financial market in Zimbabwe, 1 USD gave 13.76 ZiG.
In the summer of 2019, the government of Zimbabwe banned the circulation of US dollars in the country. Nine months later, however, this ban was lifted.