The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe increased its gold reserves by about 250 per cent between April 2024 and December 2025, as the central bank stepped up efforts to strengthen national reserve buffers through in-kind mineral royalties and a dedicated share of export proceeds, Mining Zimbabwe reports.
By Ryan Chigoche
According to the latest Monetary Policy Statement, the apex bank’s gold holdings, a key component of Zimbabwe’s foreign currency reserves, rose from 1.5 tonnes in April 2024 to 4.03 tonnes by December 2025.
The accumulation follows a policy introduced in late 2022 requiring miners to settle part of their royalties in kind. Under the framework, producers of minerals such as gold, diamonds, and platinum pay 50 per cent of their royalties in physical minerals, 10 per cent in foreign currency, and 40 per cent in local currency.
The policy allows the central bank to build strategic reserves directly from mineral production while strengthening the country’s external buffers.
In addition to in-kind mineral royalties, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has also been channelling part of export proceeds into reserve accumulation as part of a broader strategy to stabilise the domestic currency and strengthen national buffers.
Under the export proceeds liquidation framework, exporters surrender 30 per cent of their foreign currency earnings. Of that portion, five per cent is directed towards reserve accumulation, while the remainder is shared between government external debt servicing and liquidity support for the interbank foreign exchange market.
Together with the growing gold stockpile, these inflows have helped significantly strengthen the country’s broader foreign currency reserve position.
As a result, total reserve buffers increased from US$276 million in April 2024 to about US$1.2 billion by December 2025, equivalent to roughly 1.5 months of import cover. This marked a substantial improvement from the 0.18 months of import cover recorded in the first quarter of 2024.
The reserve build-up was further supported by strong precious metals prices during the period.
Gold prices remained robust in 2025, reaching record highs and boosting both export earnings and reserve accumulation. At the same time, platinum group metals prices also rallied as tightening supply conditions and deepening market deficits supported the sector.
Together, these developments strengthened the RBZ’s capacity to build strategic reserves while underscoring the central role of the mining sector in supporting Zimbabwe’s macroeconomic stability.
