Where is the ZiG? Locals say still getting sweets for change as new money hard to get

The new currency officially started trading earlier this month, but the central bank only released the first two denominations — a 10 ZiG note ($0.70) and a 5 ZiG coin — on Tuesday.

Despite hopes this would solve a shortage of small change, Zimbabweans were left disappointed.

Many Zimbabweans have long preferred using US dollars for transactions.

But due to a lack of coins, stores often give change in candies and cookies.

“We haven’t had a customer who brought it in cash today,” said a shop assistant at another retailer.

Professor Gift Mugano, director for African Governance and Development at the Durban University of Technology, said the central bank released small denominations first to “curb money supply and inflation”.

But some stores on Tuesday were marketing goods at inflated prices in the local currency compared to the official US dollar exchange rate.

Soaring prices have piled pressure on Zimbabweans who are already contending with widespread poverty, high unemployment and a severe drought induced by the El Nino weather pattern.

After climbing well into the triple digits last year, inflation was at 57 percent in April.

“We have not seen the ZiG and its benefits yet,” said Sophie Lizaze, a Harare commuter who explained she had to pay $1 for a short bus ride — double the usual cost paid in local currency.

Mugano said the ZiG alone could not solve the country’s woes. Things would stabilise only if Zimbabwe’s economic output was to grow, allowing the country to earn foreign currency and create demand for its own.

Others were more optimistic.

“If we compare (it) to the past currency… this one has value,” said Philipp Manyonganise, as he queued outside a bank to withdraw the new money.