THE local Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency buyback rate has so far depreciated by 19,7 % on the parallel market and even higher when illegal traders are selling hard currency.
A visit by NewZimbabwe.com to the parallel market in Harare’s CBD Tuesday revealed that while the ZiG official rate was averaging ZiG13,36 against the greenback, the parallel market dealers were paying ZiG 16,00 for every US$1 signifying about 19,7% depreciation rate.
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When disposing of the greenback, the shadow market asks price is ranging around ZiG 20,00 signifying a decrease of around 49,7% from the officially recognized exchange rate.
The ZiG replaced the inflation-battered old Zimbabwean dollar and started trading on Monday, following its launch by the new Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mushayavanhu on April 5.
Despite initial market confusion surrounding the new currency, most banks, traders, and businesses successfully converted their old Zimbabwe dollar balances to ZiG setting the stage for ZiG to circulate alongside other foreign currencies under Zimbabwe’s multi-currency regime, which will remain in place until 2030.
Zimbabwe’s sixth currency, ZiG, debuted at 13.56 per U.S. dollar on Monday, April 7 2024 and sustained its upward trend to the current averages on the official market.
The alternative market presents a much faster source of the greenback locally but has often been accused of manipulating exchange rates and causing market mayhem in the largely informalised economy where the majority of the populace undertakes business trades.
In a bid to rid them of the parallel market traders, Finance Minister Prof. Mthuli Ncube recently roped in the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to cleanse the streets but despite the interventions, the parallel market trades continue to thrive as well as determining price dynamics in the markets.newzimbabwe
