Zimbabwe Reiterates Plans To Introduce Smaller Gold Coin Denominations
The Government has reiterated plans to introduce smaller gold coin denominations in a bid to make them accessible to people from all walks of life.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe introduced the Mosi-oa-Tunya gold coins on the 25th of July as part of a raft of measures meant to stabilise the economy and quench the appetite for foreign currency as a store of value.
Speaking to Sunday News in an exclusive interview Saturday, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Professor Mthuli Ncube, said the demand for gold coins has been very high. He said:
We are happy with the uptake of the gold coin and we so far sold in excess of Z$8 billion since their introduction. Many people are happy with hedging their investments against the gold coins instead of holding onto cash as they have been doing in the past. We are now looking at introducing a smaller denomination to make these gold coins more inclusive across the entire Zimbabwean population. We want every Zimbabwean not to be left behind in our efforts to manage our economy. Every Zimbabwean will be afforded a chance to acquire these gold coins.
Prof Ncube also spoke about the need to maintain the 200 per cent bank interest rate as well as measures that were put in place by Government to stabilise the local currency.
He also said the expected rate of economic growth for this year has been reviewed from 5.5 per cent to 4.6 per cent.
Prof Ncube said the Government was happy with the uptake of gold coins.
He said Zimbabweans had been largely shunning the local dollar in favour of the US dollar, which is acceptable abroad and better at holding value long term.
Previously, RBZ Governor Dr John Mangudya said smaller gold coins are expected to go on sale in November so that ordinary people can invest in them and store value for their local currency.
