Residents and business owners in Dete, a township situated within the Hwange National Park about 65km from Hwange town in Matabeleland North Province, say they have yet to physically obtain the new Zimbabwe Gold (ZWG) currency.
They report only seeing the new currency featured on television, in newspapers, and on social media platforms.
Onesimo Ushendibaba, the Chairperson of the Dete Business Community, told the Chronicle that the shortage of ZWG in the area is exacerbated by the absence of banking facilities in the small township. Said Ushendibaba:
I am aware that the new currency was introduced in April but as businesses, we are yet to have a customer who has used this currency in our shops, if so it may have been a once-off transaction.
People have to travel to Hwange to access banking facilities and since that is where we also get bigger supermarkets, they naturally will do their grocery shopping there, especially if it’s paydays.
Onesimo Ushendibaba explained that due to Dete’s location within a major tourist area, most people in the community are employed in the tourism sector and have better access to foreign currencies, particularly the United States dollar.
Gloria Gumbo, a vendor at the local flea market, said she had only seen the ZWG currency when she travelled to Harare to place orders for her business. Said Gumbo:
People come with US$ to buy wares at my shop, I am yet to sell in ZWG, not that I don’t want but because no one has this currency, maybe a few but they use it mainly to pay bills such as electricity and water.
Launched on April 5th, 2024, the ZWG currency has maintained a relatively stable peg to the United States dollar, starting at an exchange rate of 13.56 ZWG per USD and rising only marginally to the current rate of 13.70 ZWG per USD.
Yesterday, the Zimbabwe Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) said that the month-on-month ZiG inflation rate for June 2024 was 0 per cent, meaning prices have remained constant on average between May and June.
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