The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stated that it would like Zimbabwe Gold, known by the acronym ZiG, “to become fully the sole national currency.” The statement comes as the institution considers including Zimbabwe in an economic supervision program.
ZiG was launched in April 2024 to replace the devalued Zimbabwean dollar. The new currency followed several successive crashes of the previous one, which had steadily lost value in recent years.
According to the IMF, making ZiG the sole national currency would be an important step toward stabilizing the country’s economy. This measure is part of a broader effort to restore public confidence in Zimbabwe’s financial system. Since 2009, this is the government’s sixth attempt to introduce a local currency to replace the US dollar as the main means of payment. None of the previous efforts have succeeded in ensuring long-term stability.
The IMF’s proposed supervision plan aims to support economic reforms and strengthen Zimbabwe’s financial institutions. While it has not given a timeline, the Fund has clearly expressed its expectations regarding the future of the new currency.
With ZiG, Zimbabwe is trying to reduce its reliance on the US dollar and regain control over national monetary policy. However, the success of the new currency is not yet guaranteed, as the IMF itself acknowledges.
Source: Bloomberg
