Online Reporter
Trust Freddy
Herald Correspondent
Government has reaffirmed its strategic roadmap for the Zimbabwe Gold, dismissing claims that its absence in fuel and passport transactions indicates a lack of confidence, with the local currency now accounting for 40 percent of electronic transactions.
Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Permanent Secretary, Mr George Guvamatanga, said the local currency is demonstrating “unprecedented strength” in the broader economy. New data shows the ZiG now accounts for more than 40 percent of all electronic transactions nationwide.
He was responding to inquiries regarding the exclusive use of foreign currency for fuel and travel documents on the sidelines of a press conference held by the Ministry of Finance together with officials from the International Monetary Fund in Harare on Monday.
Mr Guvamatanga explained the requirement for US dollars (USD) to purchase passports, citing the nature of the service provider.
“On passports, look, we had a five, six, seven‑year backlog,” he said. “We had an operator who came and said, ‘I will put in the system, I will clear the backlog, but make sure that I get paid my money in US dollars because it’s a foreign operator.’ We have an agreement with that operator, and today you can get your passport in one or two weeks.”
He added that while the long‑term goal is to make passports available in local currency as stability increases, the ZiG’s success should not be judged solely on this metric. “I think we will also get to a point where passports will also be available in local currency. But you cannot measure the success of the ZiG merely on whether it can buy fuel or buy passports. The success is that we have seen increased usage of the ZiG dollar and 40 percent of the transactions happening on the electronic payment system are now in the local currency. That shows that there is acceptance of the local currency.”
Mr Guvamatanga also reminded the public that exclusive USD fuel sales were an industry‑led negotiation, not a Government directive.
“The use of the US dollar was actually a negotiated agreement between the Government, industry and labour. The industry then chose to say, ‘We want to sell certain products in US dollars or all of their products in US dollars,’ and the Government said, ‘Fine, if you sell part of your product in US dollars, then you also have to pay taxes in US dollars.’
“To ease the burden of high fuel import costs, the Government required that workers be paid partly in USD so they could afford fuel priced in that same currency.”He noted a perceived irony in public complaints, pointing out that many high‑end consumer goods are paid for in foreign currency without protest.
“You are able to buy beer and pizza in US dollars. No one ever asked the industry to say, ‘Can we buy pizza and chicken and beer in local currency?’ But a critical commodity like fuel, you are now saying, ‘I want to buy this in local currency.’ From a Government perspective, we find that very ironic.”
