INDUSTRY and Commerce minister Mangaliso Ndlovu has urged industries in Bulawayo to support the new measures introduced by the central bank to stimulate economic growth and strengthen the new currency, the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG).
Ndlovu made the remarks while addressing stakeholders during an engagement meeting at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair last week.
“Ultimately, we aim for stakeholders and industries to give support to the new measures, I don’t think there is anyone in business that enjoys a dollarised environment,” Ndlovu said.
“We think this [ZiG] is the right step if really we are to take control of our economy and support the growth of our industries. We need a currency that is stable, has integrity and one that provides predictability. We saw what happened to the Zimbabwe dollar which we were using as it could not perform well.”
During the questions and answer segment, Bulawayo City Council economic development officer Kholisani Moyo said the new measures were long overdue.
“There are a lot of issues that need serious clarification. The first issue we have is the aspect of confidence. The reason why our currency had challenges is not because it was not backed by something, even the United State dollar from 1971 it was not backed up by anything, still people preferred the US dollars,” Moyo said.
He said people needed to be assured that the gold backing ZiG was there and would have the government support.
“The other aspect is that when you look at private sectors, if they only prefer US dollars on other commodities it would be a problem, for example, the aspect of fuel.
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“If the government tells local authorities to accept ZiG only, people will lose confidence in this new currency. The measure to come up with a new currency which is supported (by gold), to me as an economist, I think it is a good measure,” Moyo said.
Ndlovu assured the business community that there was adequate foreign currency in the economy to support their operations.
“The supply of ZiG is going to be limited; it has to correspond with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and ZiG will cover only a very small percentage of our transaction,” the minister said.
He said the government was not de-dollarising.
