Zimbabweans Use Gold-Backed ZiG to Pay for 40% of Transactions

  • Dollar continues to be dominant currency for trading
  • The government uses ZiG for 80% of trade, secretary says
A bundle of brand new ZiG banknotes.Photographer: Cynthia R Matonhodze/Bloomberg
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Zimbabweans are using the nation’s gold-backed currency for 40% of payments compared with 20% when it first started in April, Finance Permanent Secretary George Guvamatanga said.

The ZiG — an abbreviation for Zimbabwe Gold — is only circulating in electronic form, Guvamatanga told a meeting of economists Wednesday in the capital, Harare. While citizens continue to use the US dollar for most of their transactions, the government uses the ZiG for 80% of its trade, he said.