Story by Rueben Barwe, Chief Correspondent
HARARE – PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has expressed satisfaction with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)’s efforts to grow the country’s gold reserves.
This comes as the Head of State toured the RBZ gold vaults in Harare this Thursday.
President Mnangagwa noted that for any nation to have a stable and respected currency, it must be anchored on solid reserves.
“For a country to be solid, and for its currency to be respected, it must be backed by solid gold. We did not have this before, and we decided to create it. I believe that our currency now stands on solid ground because it is visibly backed by gold,” he said.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Governor, Dr John Mushayavanhu confirmed that the central bank had adhered to the presidential directive by ensuring the ZiG currency is fully backed by reserves.
“We have ZiG$17 billion currently in circulation in the market. The gold and foreign currency reserves we are holding are valued at US$700 million, or ZiG$19 billion. This means every ZiG in circulation is backed by real value, which is why we have seen stability in the currency over the past year.”
President Mnangagwa’s inspection of the gold vaults comes after the RBZ launched the ZiG currency in April last year.
