Chaos and Confusion as Zimbabwe Launches First Gold-Backed Currency

Chaos and Confusion as Zimbabwe Launches First Gold-Backed Currency
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa delivers a speech in Esigodini Matebeleland South, Zimbabwe, on Dec. 15, 2018. Jekesai Njikizana/AFP/Getty Images
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JOHANNESBURG—On the streets of Harare, people are calling it “fool’s gold,” referring to Zimbabwe’s ZiG (Zimbabwe Gold) currency, officially launched on 8 April as the latest attempt by the ZANU-PF government to rescue its failed economy.

“Zimbabwe is a mafia state characterized by rampant inflation. It is effectively a laundromat for illicit gold smuggling, so it seems appropriate that its gangster government has adopted a version of the gold standard to bolster its imploding currency [the Zimbabwe dollar],” said Ed Stoddard, one of Southern Africa’s top financial writers.