The Zimbabwean government has reaffirmed its commitment to transition the country toward a single-currency economy by 2030, signaling the eventual phasing out of the United States dollar. The plan forms part of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s broader economic vision aimed at strengthening the country’s monetary sovereignty and restoring confidence in domestic currency systems.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Zimbabwe Independent, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor John Mushayavanhu shed light on the central bank’s strategic steps toward achieving this transition. Central to the plan is the accumulation of sufficient foreign currency reserves to support a stable local currency and meet internationally accepted standards for import cover.
“Our target is to accumulate at least three months’ worth of import cover,” Mushayavanhu said. “Currently, we have US$731 million in reserves. While that’s a notable improvement from just a few months ago, it’s still not even one month’s worth of import cover, and far below the SADC’s recommended six-month threshold.”
Import cover is considered a key economic indicator, measuring how long a country can sustain imports using its foreign reserves. Zimbabwe’s current reserves fall short of both global and regional standards, but Mushayavanhu highlighted that the country’s multi-currency environment provides additional layers of financial resilience.He explained that private sector foreign currency holdings stored in Foreign Currency Accounts (FCAs) play a significant role in supplementing official reserves. “The economy is holding substantial amounts in FCAs, which help finance imports and act as strategic buffers. In multi-currency economies, these private reserves are as important as the central bank’s own,” the RBZ governor noted.
Zimbabwe Targets Single Currency by 2030 as Reserve Accumulation Gains Pace
Data released by the central bank shows that foreign reserves have grown steadily in recent months. In April 2024, Zimbabwe held just US$270 million in reserves. By the end of June 2025, this had risen to US$731 million — a near threefold increase. While still short of the ideal benchmark, Mushayavanhu said the trend demonstrates positive momentum.
“That’s an improvement from 0.4 months to almost a full month of import cover,” he said. “It’s progress, and it supports our gradual move toward currency independence.”
To support the de-dollarisation process, the RBZ is also actively accumulating reserves in both gold and foreign currency. The aim is to reach the minimum three-month threshold — and ideally six months — by 2029, just in time for the 2030 deadline when Zimbabwe hopes to become a full mono-currency economy.
The local currency, Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), introduced in April 2024 as part of a sweeping monetary reform package, is a critical component of this strategy. The ZiG is backed by a basket of assets including gold and other precious minerals, with the government touting it as a stable alternative to the US dollar.
As of July 2025, Mushayavanhu reported that the total amount of ZiG notes in circulation stands at ZiG338,429,074, which is approximately US$12.5 million at prevailing rates. He stressed that this amount is fully covered — and then some — by the central bank’s reserve holdings.
“Our gold and forex reserves provide more than 20 times coverage for both the ZiG in circulation and the outstanding gold-backed digital tokens (GBDTs),” he said. “This is a strong foundation for confidence in our currency.”
In terms of transactional volumes, the use of foreign currency remains dominant in the formal financial system. In the first half of 2025 alone, US$4.56 billion was processed through FCAs. An additional US$480 million was exchanged through the willing-buyer, willing-seller forex platform, and US$450 million was injected directly into the market through central bank interventions.
Despite this heavy reliance on the US dollar, Mushayavanhu maintained that the government’s long-term objective remains clear: to eliminate dual currency usage and strengthen the local currency’s position.
“Our monetary policy is structured around stabilizing the ZiG and reducing dependency on the US dollar,” he said. “We recognize that trust in the currency won’t come overnight. But with consistent policy, transparency, and macroeconomic discipline, we are confident that Zimbabweans will gradually adopt and rely on their own currency.”
The central bank’s roadmap appears to dovetail with President Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030 plan, which aspires to elevate Zimbabwe to upper-middle-income status. A stable and credible national currency is seen as a critical pillar in achieving that vision.
As the 2030 deadline approaches, the government’s monetary strategy — including reserve accumulation, controlled currency issuance, and tight inflation management — will be closely scrutinized by economists, investors, and ordinary Zimbabweans alike. Whether the country can truly phase out the US dollar without reigniting past monetary chaos remains the central question.
Source- ZimEye
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