Annual budget to reflect new currency

ZIMBABWE will convert its annual budget to its gold-backed currency, the ZiG, which went into circulation last month, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said.

“That should be ready at the end of the month, beginning of next month we will be able to show you the ZiG equivalent of the budget,” Ncube told lawmakers at the nation’s parliament in Mount Hampden.
The southern African nation has been transitioning to ZiG, short for Zimbabwe Gold, since its introduction on April 5. ZiG, the country’s sixth attempt since 2008 to deliver a stable domestic currency, replaced the Zimbabwean dollar, which lost about 80 percent of its value against the greenback this year, making budgeting difficult.
“This is an exchange-rate translation at the end of the day. It’s just moving from one currency to another,” Ncube said. “It’s very important that we use an exchange rate that is marked to market to make sure that we can align those revenue and expenditures to the real budget.”
The budget presented in December projected expenditure at 58,2 trillion Zimbabwean dollars and tax revenue at Z$51,2 trillion.
The ZiG traded at 13,66 to the dollar, according to data posted Monday on the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s website, a decline of 0,8 percent from 13,56 on April 8. – Bloomberg