The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has announced that it is finalizing its plans to introduce Gold-Backed Digital Tokens for everyday transactions.
In his presentation of the Mid-Term Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) on August 9, 2023, John Panonesta Mangudya, RBZ’s Governor, disclosed the Reserve Bank is now at “an advanced stage in the preparations for the eventual rolling out of GBDT for transactional purposes.”
RBZ began issuing the Gold-Backed Digital Tokens (GBDT) in April 2023 in a bid to stabilize the Zimbabwean economy and address long-standing challenges of inflation and currency fluctuations. These tokens were intended to offer an alternative investment avenue and rally against the reliance on the US dollar, which was the norm in the country.
Governor Mangudya highlighted that the upcoming phase of the project, which he labelled the “transactional phase,” will see GBDT being utilized alongside the US dollar for domestic transactions. He noted that GBDT would be used under the label “ZiG” (meaning Zimbabwe Gold). Consequently, this transactional phase would see the use of the Zimbabwean dollar (ZW$), the US dollar, and the GBDT used as a form of payment between individuals and businesses.
Mangudya further outlined the RBZ’s strategy to conduct awareness campaigns across the national provinces and districts. They aim to educate the public about the utilization and benefits of GBDT, an integral component of the preparations for this transactional phase of the GBDT project.
Beyond GBDT, Governor Mangudya provided insights into the apex bank’s plans for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in Zimbabwe. He noted that GBDT already encompasses many attributes of a CBDC and will serve as the foundational framework for the country’s pursuit of this initiative.
In a recent statement released on August 3, 2023, the RBZ disclosed that it received 15 applications valued at ZW$ 1,324,391,563.88 and USD$ 3,200.00 to purchase the gold-backed digital tokens in its 12th issuance. Prior to this update, the RBZ had successfully executed 11 issuances of GBDT and received a total of 590 applications with a combined value of ZW$50.50 billion and US$7,794.87.
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