By Henry Nwaneri
Zimbabweans reject the local currency ZIMdollar also known as RTGs and turned to US dollar due to absence of the new currency ZIG.
The proposed new currency ZIG, which was supposed to be effective from April 8th has been delayed until April 30th, leaving the US Dollar to dominate the market.
Zimbabwe’s informal traders who account for about 75% of all employment in the nation have stopped accepting the ZIMdollar also know as RTGS dollar fearing its value has drastically declined.
“When you introduce new measures, you will be hoping that, you will bring stability and lower inflation but you need to be disciplined and sincere about the process,” economist Happy Zengeni explained.
“The ordinary Zimbabwean does not have the capacity to inject liquidity into the economy but capacity rests with the authorities so they need to be sincere about it.”
Before the announcement of the launch of the new gold-backed currency, ZIG, the Zimdollar was trading at 28,720 to 1 US dollar.
Ordinary Zimbabweans like street vendor Mildred Mapfumo feel dejected:
“I sell fruits for a living and I had been saving the RTGs Dollar for a while in order to pay tuition for my children but now we woke up to the news that our money is no longer valuable, I don’t even know how I will navigate this.”
Zimbabwe is not new to currency change, we have seen the RTGs dollar being rolled and eventually being phased out and before that was the bearers cheques. However, Zimbabweans are really worried about the extent to which this new ZiG, will be able to curb inflation that has been going on in the country.
