Zimbabwe currency reserves backing ZiG climb to record

Gold and foreign-currency reserves backing Zimbabwe's bullion-linked monetary unit rose to a record in June, the central bank said.

The reserves climbed to $731 million from $639 million in May and $276 million in April last year, when the nation introduced Zimbabwe Gold, the currency known as the ZiG, the central bank said in a statement Wednesday.

Years of economic mismanagement doomed five attempts to create a functioning currency in the southern African nation, with the ZiG replacing the defunct Zimbabwean dollar, which was in freefall.

Authorities now want the new unit to supersede the US dollar, which since 2009 has functioned as a dual transacting currency.