Zimbabwe’s New Gold-Backed Currency Gets Off to a Chaotic Start

Zimbabwe’s new gold-backed currency is designed to fight inflation and wean the economy off the US dollar, but it has suffered a chaotic start with shops accepting only US dollars on Tuesday and Zimbabweans queuing up outside banks for hours to access their savings.

The ZiG – short for Zimbabwe Gold – officially started trading on Monday, just days after the country’s central bank announced it would replace the Zimbabwean dollar, which has tumbled in value over the past year.

In March, inflation…