Mboweni, a former governor of the South African Reserve Bank, also called for political leadership in the Southern African Development Community to intervene in ending sanctions in the economically troubled SADC country.
Mboweni said senior government representatives, including those in the National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank, had met with their Zimbabwean counterparts in December in Johannesburg over this issue.
They had had a conversation about the status of the Zimbabwe economy, the finance and banking systems, the attempts to reignite the economic health of Zimbabwe, the minister said, adding that the participants reaffirmed their mutual commitment to working together to assist the troubled country.
“I think the idea of using a new currency in Zimbabwe is a good one. I think our colleagues there are on a good wicket when it comes to that space. We are working together very well but at the end of the day it is Zimbabweans who need to fix their country,” Mboweni told the media on Wednesday.
He added: “But this is something that is beyond my powers. SADC presidents will have to work together to ensure that whatever remaining sanctions in Zimbabwe are removed.
“Those sanctions are causing big problems. Because if you want to go and do anything that involves the US dollar and you are under sanctions, political leadership hopefully will really do something to remove the sanctions. It (sanctions ending) is key and central to the revival of the Zimbabwean economy.”
Mboweni was fielding questions on Wednesday from journalists about the upcoming trip to Davos for the World Economic Forum next week.