The ZiG: All About Zimbabwe’s New Gold-Backed Currency
In a bold move to address long-standing economic challenges, Zimbabwe has introduced a new gold-backed currency called the ZiG, short for Zimbabwe Gold. This innovative legal tender, launched on April 5, 2024, aims to provide stability and restore confidence in the country’s financial system after years of crippling hyperinflation and exchange rate volatility. Here's everything you need to know about the ZiG and its potential impact on Zimbabwe's economy. The Birth Story of the ZiG Zimbabwe's economic history is marked by extreme volatility and hyperinflation. The Zimbabwean dollar, introduced in 1980, lost its value dramatically due to hyperinflation, which at one point peaked at an astonishing 5 billion percent in 2009. This led to the collapse of the national currency and forced the country to rely on various foreign currencies, primarily the US dollar, resulting in limited control over its own economy.\ To address these challenges, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ...
