Zimbabwe’s new ZiG currency

May 3, 2024

Zimbabwe has introduced a new gold-backed currency called ZiG – the name stands for “Zimbabwe Gold”.
It is the latest attempt to stabilise an economy that has lurched from crisis to crisis for the past 25 years.
The ZiG replaces a Zimbabwean dollar, the RTGS, that had lost three-quarters of its value so far this year.
Zimbabweans have 21 days to exchange old, inflation-hit notes for the new currency.
The new ZiG banknotes come in denominations of between 1 and 200.
The US dollar, which accounts for 85% of transactions, will remain legal tender and most people are likely to continue to prefer this.
Coins will also be introduced to overcome the shortage of US coins, which has seen people receive change in sweets, small chocolates and pens.
The ZiG is the sixth currency Zimbabwe has used since the spectacular 2009 collapse of the Zimbabwe dollar amid hyperinflation of 5 billion percent, one of the world’s worst currency crashes to date.