Online Reporter
Business Reporter
GLOBAL financial services group Citigroup says Zimbabwe is experiencing a significant economic turnaround following years of destructive money printing, currency crashes and hyperinflation.
However, the US investment bank warned that international investors risk missing these structural reforms because of the southern African nation’s entrenched global isolation and perceived risks.
Citigroup is one of the largest and most influential financial institutions in the world, operating as the third-largest bank in the United States by assets.
The bank holds roughly US$1,8 trillion to $2,8 trillion in consolidated assets and generates over US$80 billion in annual revenue.
“Where perceptions and reality may now be increasingly out of kilter is the speed with which an economic turnaround has started to play out in Zimbabwe since 2025,” Bloomberg quoted Mr David Cowan, Citigroup’s chief Africa economist, as saying in a note to clients.
The Wall Street lender points to a dramatic collapse in price pressures as a primary marker of the recovery.
After average annual consumer price growth surged in 2024, Citigroup sees inflation around 8 percent this year.
Both the Reserve Bank and the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion see domestic currency inflation below 5 percent this year, after hitting single-digit levels for the first time in three decades this January.
Official data shows inflation has averaged roughly 4 percent through the first eight months of the year, sliding to 2,9 percent in August—marking its lowest single-digit level since 1980.
Several structural catalysts are driving the country’s economic stabilisation, including high international bullion prices, which have seen gold export earnings jump 61 percent in seven months to July this year, an expanding domestic lithium mining footprint, and the rollout of the gold-backed ZiG currency in 2024.
Zimbabwe’s total export proceeds reached US$7,53 billion during the first half (six months) of 2026, driven by a record monthly high of US$1,44 billion in June
The recovery has also been bolstered by a complete halt to central bank deficit financing, supported by a 10-month International Monetary Fund staff-monitored oversight framework.
Citigroup, however, noted that the local economy continued to operate under high levels of dollarisation, while the country’s US$21,3 billion external debt pile remains a worrying factor.
The IMF is implementing an SMP for Zimbabwe to help the country anchor macroeconomic stability and build a credible track record for international re-engagement, leading to a sustainable debt resolution framework.
France and the United Kingdom have agreed to co-chair an official creditors committee to assist in negotiations for Zimbabwe’s debt restructuring process.
