Zimbabwe announces return to the gold standard

[pmbug]

Zimbabwe has announced they will be replacing their existing fiat currency (ZW) with a gold standard currency (ZiG) backed by a basket of gold and USD:

https://www.pmbug.com/threads/zimbabwe- ... post-98582

[xmj]

By now this even made its way into mainstream press:

FT: Zimbabwe launches 'gold-backed currency' to replace collapsing dollar
BBC: Zimbabwe launches new gold-backed currency - ZiG

[I Shrugged]

Is it redeemable for USD and gold, or what?

[ArthurPooh]

Is it redeemable for USD and gold, or what?

Apparently it's not redeemable for gold. It's supposedly "backed" by USD and gold. I think after the Zim dollar failed there have been two supposedly USD-pegged currency systems already and they did not stay pegged for too long. This seems like just another attempt to do the same.

Ask yourself: would you really trust a gold certificate issued by Zimbabwe? If they really wanted to make their financial system trustworthy, they would just officially introduce a foreign hard currency. Only reason to try and revive a local currency at this point is to enable more printing.

[pmbug]

...
Apparently it's not redeemable for gold. ...

Where did you see this reported? The RBZ says (bold is mine):

...
149. The Reserve Bank is introducing a structured currency which is generally defined as a currency that is pegged to a specific exchange rate or currency basket and backed by a bundle of foreign exchange assets (potentially including gold). This means that a Central Bank can only issue domestic notes and coins when fully backed by a foreign “reserve” currency or foreign exchange assets and that the currency is fully convertible into the reserve currency on demand.

150. The structured currency being introduced is anchored by a composite basket of foreign currency and precious metals (mainly gold) held as reserves for this purpose by the Reserve Bank.
...

https://www.rbz.co.zw/documents/mps/202 ... tement.pdf

It remains to be seen what they actually do of course, but they are claiming that the new ZiG will be redeemable for underlying asset(s). It's not clear however, if they are just going to give redemptions in USD (or other basket paper) or actually hand over some gold.

[dualstow]

So any MC Hammer giphy here would be premature