Africa-Press – Zambia. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) says it’s working toward a future where the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) becomes the country’s sole currency, and that means slowly phasing out the US dollar by 2030.
RBZ Reveals Strategy to Ditch US Dollar by 2030 and Make ZiG Sole Currency
RBZ Governor John Mushayavanhu revealed that the central bank is focusing on building strong foreign currency reserves as part of that plan. In a recent interview with The Independent, he confirmed that Zimbabwe’s official reserves had climbed to US$731 million by the end of June 2025, up sharply from US$270 million just three months earlier.
Reserves Grow, But Still Below Regional Benchmarks
While the progress is notable, Zimbabwe still falls short of international standards. The country now has just under one month’s worth of import cover, a big jump from 0.4 months a year ago, but still well below the Southern African Development Community (SADC) target of six months, and the global minimum of three months.
Mushayavanhu admitted that the reserve levels are not yet where they should be. But he explained that Zimbabwe’s multi-currency system, where both individuals and businesses hold foreign currency in private accounts, makes the benchmarks less rigid.
“The international benchmark for import cover is three months, and the Sadc benchmark is six months,” Mushayavanhu said. “However, these benchmarks apply to mono-currency economies. In countries with multiple currency systems, economic agents — individuals and corporates — already hold foreign currency in their accounts, which are treated as free funds and used to support imports.”
In other words, most of the money used for imports doesn’t come from the central bank; it comes from these private accounts. In fact, around 95% of Zimbabwe’s import payments are handled through private Foreign Currency Accounts (FCAs), with the central bank only stepping in when needed.
Still, as the country works toward having ZiG as the only legal tender by 2030, the RBZ says it’s important to meet global standards and build a solid buffer.
“As the country moves towards mono-currency by 2030, the central bank is building adequate foreign reserves to align with international benchmarks,” the governor said.
Gold-Backed Digital Tokens Play a Supporting Role
Part of the RBZ’s strategy involves gold-backed digital tokens (GBDTs), a unique tool used to store value and strengthen reserves. So far, 942.8kg worth of tokens have been issued, with 196.6kg (valued at around US$21.2 million) still outstanding by mid-July, after many token holders redeemed theirs.
On top of that, the central bank has released around ZiG338 million in physical currency notes. These are backed by over US$700 million in reserves, providing what Mushayavanhu called “over 20 times” the value needed to cover both the cash in circulation and the outstanding digital tokens.
The governor made it clear that the RBZ isn’t improvising, it has a reserves accumulation strategy in place, with the goal of reaching at least three to six months of import cover by 2029.
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