Business Reporter
OUTGOING Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Dr John Mangudya Thursday handed over the central bank’s assets to his incoming counterpart.
The occasion was also graced by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Finance Minister Prof Mthuli Ncube and his deputy among other top officials.
Addressing delegates shortly after the tour Mnangagwa said his administration transformed the manner in which the central bank operates.
“In the past, we did not have any reserves or commodity reserved here at the RBZ, then I gave instructions that 10% of our minerals be kept in solid commodity. If it is platinum, we convert 10% of the platinum into gold.
“Other minerals which we cannot keep physical, we were going to convert that to gold,” he said.
Dr John Mushayavanhu has since replaced Dr Mangudya who will be assuming the role of Mutapa Investment Fund (MIF) CEO.
MIF formerly known as the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Zimbabwe is a Zimbabwean sovereign wealth fund formulated by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Act (Chapter 22:20). It was renamed after the re-election of Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa as the president of Zimbabwe, doing so by using Statutory Instrument 156 of 2023.
It is a state-owned investment fund established from the balance of payment surpluses, official foreign currency operations, the proceeds of privatisation, government transfer payments, fiscal surpluses and resource earnings from 20 paratstatal entities under its purview.
Mangudya has been at the helm of the nation’s top banking institution for a decade where he served the nation with due diligence, navigating through difficult times but stirring the country’s Monetary Policy to attain the current stability.
He took over the helm shortly after the end of the Government of National Unity’s tenure which ran between 2009 and 2013.
At the time the economy was facing challenges associated with a total dollarization trajectory pursued during the power sharing era which saw local demand and exports going down due to the expensive nature of relying on the US$ .
