Embrace digital dollar | Business Times

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) launched a gold-backed digital dollar last week for transactional use under the code name ZiG, which stands for Zimbabwe Gold.

The market should accept this new currency.

However, the move meant  to stop re-dollarisation, which President Emmerson Mnangagwa fears will spell doom for the country’ fragile economy has met with  low uptake to ZiG.

The ZiG can be used by both individuals and corporates to transact.

They can be bought from banks in local currency and the United States dollarrs while goods and services will also be priced in ZiG.

We urge Zimbabweans to embrace the digital dollar as the Zimbabwe dollar continues to lose value against all major currencies.

There is also need  for the RBZ to engage business lobby groups such as the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries, the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce and the Retailers Association of Zimbabwe for them to accept the ZiG as a legal tender.

The bank last year conducted a consumer survey. Mangudya said  71.7% of the respondents confirmed their willingness to use a CBDC if the bank introduced it.

ZiG will primarily serve as an alternative investment instrument which shall be scaled up to be used for transactional purposes by the public. The GBDT allows investors to preserve their value, but above all allows for divisibility, as the milligram is one thousandth of a gram.

Embrace it as  the digital dollar can immensely transform the investment and currency markets.

Continued uptake of the digital dollar is, therefore, envisaged to sustainably anchor inflation and exchange rate expectations.

In addition, the divisibility nature of the digital gold tokens conform to the national objective of leaving no one and no place behind in national development initiatives. This is again in line with the bank’s longstanding commitment towards financial inclusion as it enhances access and affordability for a wide cross-section of economic agents across all income brackets.”

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