Zimbabwe’s Government Considers Using Gold to Back Its Currency

  • President signaled authorities considering a currency revamp
  • Zimbabwe dollar has slumped almost 50% so far this year

A street vendor counts out Zimbabwean 50 dollar banknotes in Harare.

Photographer: Cynthia R Matonhodze/Bloomberg
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Zimbabwe may back its currency with gold in an effort to end exchange-rate instability, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said.

“In order to manage growth of liquidity, we may link the exchange rate to a hard asset such as gold,” the minister said in an online press briefing held Monday to announce a conference of African ministers that Zimbabwe will host at the end of this month.