Zimbabwe Turns to Gold Coins As Local Currency Tumbles

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe says it will start issuing gold coins as legal tender as the country battles to control soaring inflation that has considerably weakened the local currency. The Central Bank Governor John Mangudya said in a statement that the coins will be available for sale from July 25 , 2022 in local currency, U.S. dollars and other foreign currencies, at a price based on the prevailing international price of gold and the cost of production. The gold coin named 'Mosi-oa-Tunya', after Victoria Falls, can be converted into cash and will contain one troy ounce of gold.

Soaring inflation has piled pressure on President Emmerson Mnangagwa in a country that still remembers the economic chaos under the late president Robert Mugabe's almost four decades of rule. Hyperinflation forced the country to abandon the Zimbabwe dollar in 2009, and it opted instead to use foreign currencies, mainly the U.S. dollar.