Ashley Masakadza

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has revealed that the new Gold Backed Digital Coin (ZiG) will start operating as a currency for the payment of domestic transactions on 5 October this year.

This came out of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting which was held on 26 September. In a statement,  RBZ governor Dr John Mangudya said the value of ZIG will be determined by the market price of gold. It will also be equivalent to the value of the Mosi-oa-Tunya gold coin.

” In line with the resolutions of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee at its meeting of 26 September 2023, the Bank wishes to advise that with effect from 5 October 2023, ZIG will become one of the means of payment for domestic transactions, over and above its value-preservation purpose.

“The value of ZiG will be at par with the value of the physical Mosi-oa-Tunya gold coin and will remain informed by the international gold price. Banks will maintain dedicated ZIG accounts and intermediate transactions in ZIG in the same way they intermediate transactions in local and foreign currency. The applicable intermediated money transfer tax (IMTT) will be half of the IMTT applicable to transactions in foreign currency and the relevant legal instrument to that effect will soon be published,” read the statement.