The gold coins were introduced last year to mop excess
local currency liquidity, blamed for fuelling the parallel market exchange rate
resulting in the sharp depreciation of the local currency.
As of July 14, 36 059 gold coins had been sold.
“The first maturity after the 180 days vesting period was
January 25, 2023 and only 769 gold coins (2% of the total sold) have been
redeemed so far, bearing testimony that it is indeed considered a store of
value,” Mangudya said in his mid-term monetary policy released yesterday.
He said RBZ was at an advanced stage of rolling out
gold-backed digital tokens for transactional purposes.
Gold-backed digital tokens were introduced in May and the
initial phase entailed the issuance of the value preserving instruments for
investment purposes with a vesting period of 180 days and redeemable in the
same way as the gold coins.
Mangudya said the tokens would be rolled out in the second
phase under the code ZiG, which stands for Zimbabwe Gold, for transactional purposes.
“It is envisaged that the transactional phase will see GBDT
[gold-backed digital tokens] complementing the use of the US dollar in domestic
transactions. The bank will conduct appropriate awareness campaigns in all
national provinces and districts of the country to educate the public on the
use and benefits of GBDT,” Mangudya said, adding that the tokens would form
“the basis for the development of the country’s central bank digital currency
(CBDC) since ZiG in its current form and design exhibits most of the
characteristics of a CBDC”.
As of July 21, 2023, RBZ had conducted 11 issuances of the
tokens.
It received 590 applications to purchase tokens valued at
$50,50 billion and US$7 794,87. RBZ issued 325 024 524 milligrammes equivalent
to 325,02kg of gold as a result.
The gold-backed digital tokens were introduced as part of
measures to mop excess liquidity and offer the public an investment
alternative.
Their issuance came barely a year after RBZ introduced gold
coins to stabilise the local currency.Newsday
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