THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) will not introduce ZiG50 and ZiG200 to the market anytime soon as it fears that the bigger notes will fuel inflation, central bank governor John Mushayavanhu has said.
Speaking during a Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe 2024 annual conference held in Victoria Falls yesterday, Mushayavanhu also said the ZiG, introduced in April this year, was firming against the greenback.
“Since we introduced the ZiG, the economy has continued to grow across all sectors and we have not seen any negative results or disruptions,” he said.
“We have introduced most of the cash denominations that we said we were going to. We have got ZiG1, ZiG2, ZiG5, ZiG10 and ZiG20 in circulation now.
“We are going to put more of the smaller denominations because we want to make sure that the problem of change is immediately alleviated.”
He added: “We have been very shy when it comes to introducing bigger denominations because psychologically, these denominations are inflationary. We do not really see a reason to introduce the ZiG50, ZiG200. We have them, we have printed them, but it will take a bit of time before we put them on the market.”
The governor said the exchange rate for ZiG had been fairly stable since the new unit was introduced.
“In fact, ZiG has strengthened against the United States dollar,” he said.
- Ndiraya concerned as goals dry up
- Derby of joy and pain
- Mangudya speaks on banks’ stability
- Winky D dominates Trevor’s In Conversation
Keep Reading
But a survey recently conducted by our sister publication, The Standard, showed that ZiG notes were not readily available through banks.
Shortages were observed in various sectors including transport, supermarkets and the informal market.
The situation is causing disruptions to business.
