
Talent Gore and Maria Chiguvari
VENDORS and commuters have expressed relief over the circulation of the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) notes and coins.
ZiG notes started circulating on Tuesday.
The new currency was introduced electronically in early April.
The new currency includes coins in 1, 2, and 5 ZiG denominations and 10, 50, 100, and 200 notes.
Additionally, there are 25 and 50 ZiG coins.
The roll-out of the ZiG notes and coins seems to have eased the pain of commuters who were being inconvenienced as public transport operators were now charging twice the price.
People in the Harare CBD said the coins and notes will make it easy for them to conduct their daily transactions.
A city resident, Normal Jani, said authorities should continue with the clampdown on money changers as they are the major culprits in eroding the value of our money
“We have been at the mercy of traders and transporters who were demanding US$1 on every transaction and I am happy that the new money is finally out so that we can get our change,” he said.
“The new currency has improved our lives in terms of transportation. For the past two weeks we were being charged twice the money.
“Yes, it will be difficult for others to adapt to the changes but we can now buy without worrying and I plead with the Government to continue with the clampdown on illegal money changers because during the RTGs era they had become a menace.”
A vendor only identified, as Magocha, who was selling cooking sticks said the money had brought relief to him as a business person.
“What a relief this new currency has brought, as a vendor I was facing difficulties because people would not buy due to change, ndanga ndakutomanikidza vanhu kutenga zvavasingade,”he said.
Tendai Simukai said: “We are happy that we now have a new currency which we hope and believe will remain strong as it is now.
“The struggle of using big numbers has been solved and the ZiG is easy to understand as it has very few digits,”