Opinion / Columnist
ZiG currency another scam
4 hrs ago | Views
Introducing new currency every time and again is not the panacea to the challenges that the country is currently facing.
The issue of currency needs a lot of input and everyone's heads on the deck. We must first change our political face, which has developed some negative political wrinkles and shifting signs of ageing. We need to refresh it or switch it to factory settings.
The current regime has disastrously failed. Actually, the regime failed way back twenty years ago, and this new dispensation took over and plunged the country into a social, economic, and political quagmire. It has failed the test of time.
In 1980, when Zimbabwe attained its independence, we saw the country introducing a new currency, moving away from the Rhodesian dollar and shillings. The new currency was well managed by Kombo Moyana, massacred by Leonard Tsumba, and later eclipsed by Gideon Gono. Currently the currency by the name ZiG has now been transferred into the intensive care unit by John Mushayavanhu.
We are now caught in between two horns of a dilemma with the frightening reality.
ZiG is free falling, and it is shocking to hear that the rate is now hovering over double the official rate.
The major problem in these currency reforms is the commodification of the local currency. When people are making a living through selling the currency, it will always be grossly manipulated.
Currency reforms that are not supported by investment in manufacturing and processing industries are bound to fail and will always be difficult to stabilise the currency. We need to get to the economic basics, like supporting our agriculture, manufacturing, and processing finished products.
The ZiG will collapse if we still have a lot of people waking up and going to work and the ZiG rate being their work on the streets. We also need to start interrogating what the government expenditures are like. For example, we must know how much the government is borrowing; that will give us a clear indication of why we are failing to keep the currency stable.
ZiG is just another fiat currency. To say that it is being backed by gold is just a fallacy. We seem to be trying to reinvent the wheel each time we introduce a new currency in the country.
A currency that does not meet the basic characteristics of money is bound to fail. It's scientifically proven over the years. Today's currencies are backed by production and nothing else.
It is so embarrassing that Zimbabwe has been turned into one expansive tuckshop where we import nearly everything from toothpicks and vehicles to building materials. So the demand for forex is always on the steep side.
A currency will always be pitted against other currencies in order to test its buying power, and no form of internal manipulation will sustain its fake value.
Shortcuts will never solve our current economic problems, which we are facing in Zimbabwe.
The ZiG currency raised red flags from the day it was launched as it failed to buy fuel for passports and could be used and acceptable in some government departments.
Email: konileonard606@gmail.com
X: @Leokoni
The issue of currency needs a lot of input and everyone's heads on the deck. We must first change our political face, which has developed some negative political wrinkles and shifting signs of ageing. We need to refresh it or switch it to factory settings.
The current regime has disastrously failed. Actually, the regime failed way back twenty years ago, and this new dispensation took over and plunged the country into a social, economic, and political quagmire. It has failed the test of time.
In 1980, when Zimbabwe attained its independence, we saw the country introducing a new currency, moving away from the Rhodesian dollar and shillings. The new currency was well managed by Kombo Moyana, massacred by Leonard Tsumba, and later eclipsed by Gideon Gono. Currently the currency by the name ZiG has now been transferred into the intensive care unit by John Mushayavanhu.
We are now caught in between two horns of a dilemma with the frightening reality.
ZiG is free falling, and it is shocking to hear that the rate is now hovering over double the official rate.
The major problem in these currency reforms is the commodification of the local currency. When people are making a living through selling the currency, it will always be grossly manipulated.
Currency reforms that are not supported by investment in manufacturing and processing industries are bound to fail and will always be difficult to stabilise the currency. We need to get to the economic basics, like supporting our agriculture, manufacturing, and processing finished products.
The ZiG will collapse if we still have a lot of people waking up and going to work and the ZiG rate being their work on the streets. We also need to start interrogating what the government expenditures are like. For example, we must know how much the government is borrowing; that will give us a clear indication of why we are failing to keep the currency stable.
ZiG is just another fiat currency. To say that it is being backed by gold is just a fallacy. We seem to be trying to reinvent the wheel each time we introduce a new currency in the country.
A currency that does not meet the basic characteristics of money is bound to fail. It's scientifically proven over the years. Today's currencies are backed by production and nothing else.
It is so embarrassing that Zimbabwe has been turned into one expansive tuckshop where we import nearly everything from toothpicks and vehicles to building materials. So the demand for forex is always on the steep side.
A currency will always be pitted against other currencies in order to test its buying power, and no form of internal manipulation will sustain its fake value.
Shortcuts will never solve our current economic problems, which we are facing in Zimbabwe.
The ZiG currency raised red flags from the day it was launched as it failed to buy fuel for passports and could be used and acceptable in some government departments.
Email: konileonard606@gmail.com
X: @Leokoni
Source - Leonard Koni
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