(Bloomberg) -- Zimbabwe plans to review state workers’ pay after a 43% devaluation of its gold-backed currency last month eroded their earnings, according to the Sunday Mail newspaper.
The Treasury has set aside a significant amount of dollars to fund the salary adjustments, the state-controlled weekly reported, citing Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister July Moyo.
The main beneficiaries will be the lowest-paid workers, Moyo was quoted as saying. Authorities also plan to pay state workers their annual bonuses next month in dollars, he said.
The southern African nation weakened the ZiG, short for Zimbabwe Gold, on Sept. 27 after it significantly depreciated on the parallel market and the official rate shed value against the dollar for more than a month.
The ZiG, adopted on April 5, is the country’s sixth attempt at a functioning local currency in the past 15 years. It is backed by gold, precious minerals and foreign currency reserves held by the central bank.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa last week in a state-of-the-nation address before lawmakers said authorities noted with concern the resurgence of the parallel market and would take “corrective measures.”
Since the devaluation, the ZiG has slumped 5% to trade at 25.70 per dollar on Monday, according to data posted on the central bank’s website.
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