The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) said it has no intentions to immediately sell the gold it is buying from local artisanal small-scale miners.
RBM spokesperson Mark Lungu Monday said the gold will be kept to boost the central bank’s value.
“In our case, for now the gold that has been accessed is used as part of our reserve assets and is only about 200 kilogrammes (kg),” Lungu said.
Natural Resources and Climate Change Committee Chairperson Welani Chilenga welcomed the option which he rated as a standard practice.
“It is a good idea because it’s a common practice worldwide for central banks to keep gold to demonstrate their worth.
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“Also, even if that gold was sold the monetary value is very small to change anything on the ground,” Chilenga said.
But National Coordinator for the Natural Resources Justice Network (NRJN) Kennedy Rashid said while the decision could be sound in the short term, RBM should consider establishing gold refining operations.
“It is a good move that we should not be selling raw minerals. At least RBM can be moving towards establishing a gold refinery since we do have the state-owned Mining Company,” Rashid said.
This is coming at a time when the country’s foreign exchange reserves have been depleted, seen at 0.8 months of imports in April 2023.
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According to goldprice.org, the price of the commodity reached $62,054.96 (about K66 million) per kg.
