The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) has indicated that it has procured over 295 kilogrammes (kg) of gold since the initiative began.
On Wednesday afternoon, prices of gold were seen at $2624.49 per kg, according to goldprice. org.
This means the value of the acquired gold is $774,224.55 or K1.35 billion.
In an interview, Reserve Bank of Malawi Director of Public Relations Mark Lungu said the amount made economic sense.
“We have successfully purchased 295 kilogrammes of smelted gold. We remain optimistic that figures for closing 2024 will show that we achieved the 300-kilogramme target.
“We are still in the process of identifying refineries in Zimbabwe and elsewhere for purification and we anticipate finalising this by the first half of 2025,” Lungu said.
Responding to questions in Parliament in February 2024, President Lazarus Chakwera said the gold would not be sold but purified and used as reserves.
“The gold will not be sold until we have accumulated substantial stocks and international gold prices improve beyond the current levels. This should not be a cause for concern.
“However, since the advantage with gold is that when it is held by the bank it still forms part of the official reserves thereby improving the foreign exchange position of a country, [this is more good news]. I wish to clarify that the gold will be purified to 999.9 percent grade and be held by the RBM as gold bullion,” Chakwera said.
In an earlier interview, mining expert Grain Malunga concurred with Chakwera, saying artisanal and small-scale miners who were producing gold could not produce enough to consider selling.
“What we are getting is alluvial gold found by these small-scale miners. It is out of poverty that they are mining this gold. Keeping the gold is the right decision because a country can keep [a] gold bar the same [way it keeps] foreign currency. The more gold bars you have, the richer the country,” Malunga said
