Another New Currency for Zimbabwe

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has unveiled a new family of coins and banknotes denominated in Zimbabwe gold (expressed as ZiG), which replaces the preceding dollar notes at a rate of 1:2,498.7242. The RBZ asserts that Zimbabwe gold is a ‘structured currency’ pegged to and fully backed by a composite basket of foreign currencies and precious metals (mainly gold).

The current series – the new Zimbabwean dollar (ZWL, but originally called the RTGS dollar) – was introduced in 2019, replacing so-called bond notes, which in turn replaced notes of the 2009 series abandoned due to hyperinflation that had resulted in the short-term appearance of a Z$100 trillion denomination.

For the next 10 years, a multi-currency system was adopted in which currencies including the South African rand, Botswana pula, pound sterling, Indian rupee, euro, Japanese yen, Australian dollar, Chinese yuan, and US dollar were used in place of the national currency.