By Diana Machingauta| So the Zimbabwean government has just created a new currency called the ZiG which we are told is backed by the country’s gold reserves and other precious metals.
The idea is that the new currency will be stronger and more stable than the local currency that preceded it.
Simple logic says that for this new currency to be the solution to Zimbabwe’s inflation problems, it will not be like the previous local currency and the conditions which sank its predecessor will no longer be there.
Is this what is going to happen this time? Absolutely not. One does not need to be an economist to foresee that there will be mass printing of this ZiG currency which will be used by the usual culprits to buy US dollars.
Not only that, but the notion that we should trust the valuation of this ZiG currency using gold reserves is a big joke considering the gold smuggling shenanigans we have seen at the hands of Zanu and the diverse pack of runners who smuggle the precious metal out of country on their behalf.
The problem in the country is with the current political leadership who have overseen unprecedented looting of the country’s resources. What Zimbabwe needs is not new a currency, but a new government.