MWANZA: THE Bank of Tanzania (BoT) has recorded a significant milestone, purchasing 15.37 tonnes of gold within the first year of its gold acquisition programme, which was launched on October, last year.
The milestone marks a significant step toward strengthening the country’s foreign exchange reserves and enhancing the stability of the Tanzanian shilling.
The BoT Governor, Mr Emmanuel Tutuba said on Friday that the amount collected represents a strong and promising start for the programme as within its first year, the Bank accumulated 15.37 tonnes of pure monetary gold, refined to internationally recognised purity levels of 99.99 per cent. He was speaking during a tour by the Bank’s Board of Directors to gold refining factories in Mwanza and Geita.
“We conducted a tour with the Board of Directors of the Bank of Tanzania, visiting gold refineries. We appreciate that the bank has recorded good performance since it formally launched the gold purchasing programme in the country,” he said. He added: “We are grateful that the programme has started well, and reaching this level within a year is a major accomplishment.”
He said that the bank’s main goal in purchasing gold includes increasing the country’s foreign exchange reserves and to diversify the composition of those reserves, including holding part of them in gold.
“We are now keeping the gold in our monetary gold account at the Bank of England, which enables us to maintain part of our foreign reserves in gold,” he said.
He also asserted that the Bank continues to use other conventional methods of reserve management, including holding reserves in various currencies such as the US dollar, the British pound, the Chinese yuan, the euro and others.
During the tour, the Board visited a number of gold refineries, including Mwanza Precious Metals Refinery, which collects, purchases and refines gold to the required standards, enabling the bank to acquire high-quality gold.
“We also visited Geita Gold Refinery (GGR), and we commend them for being at the forefront in collecting gold from small-scale miners and brokers and refining it to internationally accepted standards,” he said.
He added: “In Dodoma, we also have Eyes of Africa Refinery, which is part of our arrangements to ensure that gold is refined to the required quality. Overall, within one year, we have successfully reached 15.37 tonnes of highgrade gold.”
He further said that the tour also provided an opportunity to listen to and discuss challenges that miners and mineral traders have faced over the past year, so that the board can address them.
“We have received their views and recommendations, and as the board, we will work on them to remove obstacles and enhance their participation in the mineral sector,” he said.
He encouraged all stakeholders in the mining sector to continue taking advantage of the available opportunities, particularly given the efforts of President Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan to open up and improve the investment climate.
“Also, through the Minister for Minerals, Mr Anthony Mavunde, we have also seen the ongoing efforts to create an enabling environment that allows even small traders to grow and eventually become major investors,” he added.
He reiterated the BoT commitment to continuing the gold purchases to ensure the country maintains adequate foreign reserves to meet demand for imported goods and services whenever needed.
“That is why, for example, yesterday we supported the foreign exchange market by selling 25 million US dollars to ensure importers have sufficient liquidity to bring in the goods they require,” he said.
He added: “By doing so, we continue to stimulate business growth from micro-enterprises and wholesale businesses to large corporations and ultimately strengthen our economy. Our goal is to ensure Tanzania becomes one of the most stable and competitive economies in Africa and across the world.”