Zimbabwe Plans to Tie Exchange Rate to Hard Assets, Establish Currency Board

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Zimbabwe is actively developing new strategies to stabilize its local currency, including linking the exchange rate to hard assets like gold and setting up a currency board, announced Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube on Monday.

The Zimbabwean dollar has depreciated by approximately 40% since the beginning of the year due to increased demand for foreign currency from civil servants receiving December bonuses and a decline in commodity prices affecting inflows.

Last week, President Emmerson Mnangagwa indicated that authorities were exploring the introduction of a “structured currency,” although details on its implementation were not provided. The central bank governor also confirmed ongoing efforts in this regard.

Ncube explained the intention to manage liquidity growth, which strongly correlates with money supply expansion and inflation, by linking the exchange rate to hard assets like gold. He proposed the establishment of a currency board system where domestic liquidity growth is restrained by the value of the asset backing the currency.

Further details on these measures will be disclosed in due course, Ncube assured, expressing confidence that the new initiatives would provide a long-term solution to currency volatility.

Zimbabwe remains cautious due to past experiences of hyperinflation during Robert Mugabe’s tenure. Despite relaunching the local currency in 2019 after a decade of dollarization, its rapid depreciation prompted authorities to reinstate the use of foreign currencies in domestic transactions.