Zimbabwe has launched a new gold-backed currency to replace the dollar, in the latest effort to shore up the perennially crisis-hit economy.
The new currency, which is called Zimbabwe Gold or ZiG, is being issued at a value of around 13.5 to the dollar, and 17.1 to the pound.
The central bank has given the Zimbabweans 21 days to convert their old dollars into the new currency, with newly printed notes and minted coins to begin circulation at the end of this month.
John Mushayavanhu, governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, said: “We are doing what we are doing to ensure that our local currency does not die.
“We were already in a situation where almost 85pc of the transactions are being conducted in US dollars.”
Zimbabwe has suffered serious waves of inflation and devaluation.
In 2009, hyperinflation led to the production of banknotes with a face value of 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollars, as officials raced to keep up with the increasing worthlessness of the currency.
When the country shifted to using the US dollar in 2015, banknotes bearing that surreal face value were exchanged for just 40 cents by the central bank.
In its most recent iteration, Zimbabwe’s dollar lost more than 99pc of its value against the US dollar between 2019 and the end of 2023.