ON Saturday, major retail shops in Zimbabwe began trading predominantly in United States dollars as financial institutions suspended the use of the outgoing Zimbabwean dollar (ZWL) in anticipation of the new Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency introduced on Friday.
At Westgate Shopping Mall, located northwest of the city centre, workers informed Xinhua news agency reporters that they were accepting cash payments in both US dollars and ZWL. However, the availability of the local currency has dwindled in recent months, prompting shops to prioritise transactions in foreign currency.
‘We had to come to the shop very early in the morning to see how we would be trading following the introduction of ZiG. We decided that since our machines were no longer processing Zimbabwean dollar transactions, we should stick to only cash,’ explained an employee at one of the shops.
As a result of the transition, till points experienced less congestion than usual, with customers facing difficulties in using debit cards and mobile money transfer platforms.
In response to the currency conversion period, financial institutions also informed customers about the suspension of certain services. Zimbabwe’s largest mobile network operator, Econet, announced on Saturday the suspension of trading in the local currency.
‘Please note that we have suspended trading in ZWL, effective 5 April, as we prepare for currency changeover on our system,’ the operator communicated to its customers.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) introduced the structured currency ZiG, which will be backed by a basket of foreign exchange reserves and precious minerals, primarily gold. The move aims to promote currency stability and address the country’s persistent inflationary pressures.
ZiG notes will be available in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100, and 200, with additional half and quarter ZiG coins. Starting from Monday next week, all Zimbabwean dollar bank balances will be converted to ZiG accounts at an exchange rate of 1 US dollar to 13.56 Zimbabwean dollars, according to RBZ Governor Mushayavanhu.