Businesses who don’t use the official new exchange rate will face fines from Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is imposing fines on firms that use inflated exchange rates in an effort to preserve the value of the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), the country’s recently adopted gold-backed currency.

A government notification seen by Reuters states that any business utilizing an exchange rate higher than the official rate of 13.5 ZiG per US dollar will be subject to a fine of 200,000 ZiG ($14,815).

The notification, which was sent late on Thursday, stated that anyone providing “goods or services at an exchange rate above the prevailing interbank foreign currency selling rate” would be liable for civil violations.

Since the ZiG’s inception in early April, the government has been working to maintain it; this month, they launched a campaign against merchants in illicit foreign currencies.

While informal traders are rejecting the ZiG, certain businesses, like supermarkets, have begun demanding a premium over market rate for clients who pay in the new currency.

On Tuesday, the Zimbabwean Treasury took moves to make the ZiG the only accepted form of payment for transactions.

Zimbabwe, a country in southern Africa, abandoned the Zimdollar last month after it lost 70% of its value since the beginning of the year. This is the country’s fourth effort to introduce a local currency in ten years.