THE Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) has revealed that most businesses remain sceptical about the ZiG currency, viewing its current stability as artificial and unlikely to be sustained.
In its 2025 Third Quarter Business Insights, based on a survey of 514 firms covering the nine months to September 30, 2025, the business membership organisation said confidence in the local unit remains low among its members.
This is despite the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion ministry continuing to promote the ZiG as stable.
While inflation has been cited as a key indicator of that stability, the US dollar inflation rate remained elevated at 13,1% last month, even as ZiG inflation fell sharply to 19%.
This divergence points to an exchange rate that remains tightly controlled and does not fully reflect the currency’s underlying value.
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“Most businesses that are sceptical about the ZiG currency believe that its current stability is artificial and unsustainable.
“Many perceive that the value of the ZiG is being tightly managed by the government through strict monetary controls, restricted liquidity and delayed payments to suppliers and contractors,” CZI said.
“This has created an impression that the stability of the currency is driven more by administrative measures than by genuine market confidence.
“Firms also report that the ZiG remains difficult to access, both in cash and electronic form.
It is not widely accepted for critical transactions such as fuel, imports, and raw materials.”
CZI said past experiences of currency collapse and hyperinflation had further eroded public confidence in any new local currency.
“They expressed fear that the current stability could be short-lived, as it depends heavily on government control and liquidity suppression,” CZI said.
“There is also a prevailing concern that once the government begins releasing larger amounts of ZiG into circulation, for instance through increased public spending or contractor payments, the currency could quickly lose value.
“This group, thus, believe that the stability is being supported by scarcity rather than by real economic fundamentals.”
Despite the ZiG’s underlying value, the government is going through with plans to de-dollarise by 2030.
