ZIMBABWEANS are increasingly pawning everyday household goods to secure loans, with registrations more than doubling to 5 908 last year from 2 549 in 2024—a worrying sign of mounting financial distress for consumers, according to official figures.
This comes despite a relatively stable exchange rate, averaging between US$1:ZiG25 and ZiG27 in recent months, suggesting that currency stability has not translated into improved household liquidity.
In the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s (RBZ) 2026 Monetary Policy Statement, active loan clients in the microfinance sector declined sharply to 422 358 last year from 575 217 in the prior year.
For women, the figure fell to 183 178 from 263 484 in 2024, pointing to narrowing access to small-scale credit.
With earnings failing to keep pace with the rising cost of living and formal lending channels tightening, many households have turned to essential possessions as collateral to bridge funding gaps.
This comes as a typical family of four now requires the ZiG equivalent of between US$700 and US$1 000 monthly to survive, according to independent estimates.
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The RBZ further revealed that after household goods, the most registered movable assets in the Collateral Registry as of 2025 were private vehicles (3 370), notarial general covering bonds (2 142), trucks (1 900), and agricultural equipment (1 342).
“The Collateral Registry has recorded a cumulative 8 690 security interest notices in movable assets since commencement in November 2022, comprising 3 352 (37%) active security interest notices, and 5 704 (63%) expired registrations,” RBZ governor John Mushayavanhu said in the 2026 Monetary Policy Statement.
“As at December 31, 2025, there were 3 352 active registrations in the Collateral Registry with a total principal value of ZiG87,541 billion.
“Banking institutions were the major users of the Collateral Registry with 1 648 active registrations, followed by microfinance institutions with 1 421 entries.”
He said that in terms of the value of movable collateral, banking institutions recorded a total of ZiG33,99 billion, while law firms registered a total value of ZiG52,74 billion on behalf of clients.
“Lending institutions continue to expand the types of movable assets which qualify as collateral.
“During the year to December 31, 2025 collateral ranged from household goods, private vehicles, trucks, agricultural equipment to shares.
“Although men continue to pledge higher volumes overall, women are actively utilising movable assets, particularly within the lower to mid-value categories, which reflects increasing financial inclusion and confidence in formal lending systems.”
The number of active bank accounts marginally increased to 7,6 million last year, from 7,53 million in 2024, whilst low-cost accounts improved to 3,62 million from 3,37 million, over the same period.
“Loans to the marginalised groups, particularly the women and youth generally exhibited an upward trend indicating that the financial inclusion initiatives were having a notable impact on the sustainable uptake and usage of financial services,” Mushayavanhu said.
Food security initiative, Famine Early Warning Systems Network, last month, reported that food prices remained high for poor households, with the high prices outpacing income in recent years despite single digit inflation.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN Global Information and Early Warning System, domestic prices of most staple food commodities remain high due to the lingering effects of the 2024 drought and elevated transport and input costs.