The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is gearing up to unveil a new currency this Friday, according to insider sources.
Although the launch was initially planned for earlier this year, it had to be postponed due to various issues.
Reliable sources close to the matter have informed source that the outgoing governor of the RBZ, John Mangudya, will officially unveil the new currency after the Easter holidays, most likely on Friday. The delay in the launch was attributed to certain unresolved matters that needed to be addressed beforehand.
The source said,“The new currency will be launched at the end of the week after the Easter holidays — on Friday. It was supposed to have been launched much earlier in the year when the monetary policy statement was due in January or February, but it was delayed. Then 28 March was set as the new date, but there were still certain things that were not yet in place. So next week is the new date. Its value will be determined by the value of the ZiG, an RBZ gold-backed token. The official appointment and the role of Mushayavanhu was also an issue. Prior to that there were issues of gold and United States dollar reserves accumulation which were supposed to be in place before its announcement. One of the functions of the RBZ is management of the country’s gold and foreign exchange assets. This was a key process is coming up with the structured currency.”
Another source revealed that the central bank has been steadily amassing gold since 2022 and bolstering US dollar reserves through the export retention scheme.
The source said,“Authorities have been buying gold since 2022 and they have also been building some US dollar reserves through the export retention scheme. So they are ready for the new currency launch..”
Outgoing RBZ governor, Dr John Mangudya, emphasized that the purpose of introducing the structured currency is to stabilize the economy and curb inflation. He further explained that the new currency will be backed by gold and foreign currency, and its launch will facilitate the establishment of a Currency Board.
“The idea behind the structured currency is to ensure exchange rate and price stability as the President has already explained. The Minister of Finance has also partly explained that the new currency will allow establishment of a quasi-Currency Board to help ensuring stability. The new currency will be backed by precious metals such gold and foreign currency,” Mangudya said.
Source iHarare
