The recent proposal by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor for the introduction of a Gold backed Zimbabwe Dollar is an idea whose time has come. If implemented properly the Gold backed Zimbabwe dollar will resolve the liquidity crisis currently ravaging the sanctions hit economy. In light of Global financial crisis and targeted sanctions Zimbabwe is effectively barred from accessing any meaningful lines of credit and liquidity crisis will persist if the domestic capital market is not re-activated with the introduction of a Gold or Precious-Metal backed Zimbabwe dollar.
There is need to avoid Quasi Fiscal Activities and excessive printing of money which accelerated the demise of the previous dollar. The country has started to generate meaningful revenues with Zimbabwe Revenue Authority regularly outperforming revenue collection targets. Previously the Government had been forced to print money to finance everything. This is no longer necessary given the economic recovery and the discovery of Diamonds. The revenue from Diamonds can also be used to build the 6 months import cover and stock up Gold reserves to support the Gold Backed Zimbabwe dollar as proposed by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor.
The Gold backed currency is based on the premise that the central bank hold a large amount of gold (or other precious metal) in relation to the paper money that they issue .That means if the Country doesn’t have any gold reserves not currency can be issued, this eliminates the normal inflationary pressure that come from modern FIAT money.
Zimbabwe has been systematically been excluded from the International credit system specifically because of the ZIDERA Act passed by the US. The act makes it illegal for any US national or Entity do transactions with certain entities or individuals in Zimbabwe .This affects various Institutions such as the World Bank ,IMF, IFC ,ADB etc where US representatives can not vote in favour of any credit to Zimbabwe designated nationals and entities or entities linked to them. This creates a huge political risk premium which make International banks hesitant to grant lines of credit to Zimbabwe and Zimbabwean Institutions.
This situation effectively blocks these Institutions do any meaningful business with Zimbabwe as the country’s political risk is magnified by have many leading figures being designated nationals. This lack of access to International credit markets has become very clear through out the Economy with Banks failing to grant any medium to long term loans. This is partly causing the mini-financial crisis rocking Zimbabwe’s banks as they fail to get reasonably priced funding. Its widely reported that Banks are lending at 40 to 60 % per annum which is way to high an interest rate to give to an legitimate business transaction .This has created a very high default risk and forced banks to avoid lending. This illiquidity needs to be addressed through introduction of a Gold Backed Currency.
Modern currency is basically paper money backed by the country’s revenue generation capacity and assets. The US is the largest holder of gold reserves. How much of this is still in Fort Knox PHYSICALLY and not just on paper is another question as much gold is loaned out for the whopping sum of 0.20%! In essence the US has sold a lot of its gold into the market through gold leasing (even though it still shows up on the central banks books as a asset (accounts receivable)).This partly explains why the US$ is still the world’s reserve currency since the USA holds the largest amounts of Gold even though its exact quantity remains
In foreign exchange, no major currency is considered to be as safe and stable as the Swiss Franc. The country's centuries long policy of political neutrality as well as the fact that 40% of its currency reserves were previously backed by the precious metal, contribute to Swiss's image as “liquid gold”. The proposed Gold backed Zimbabwe dollar can in fact be based on the same format .
Canada and Australia possess large reserves of precious metal and both countries have very strong, well-developed mining sectors. Australia is the world's third largest exporter of gold with mining accounting directly for approximately 8.5% of its GDP. Canada is the world's third largest producer of gold. These 2 countries have strong economies and currencies. Whilst Zimbabwe has huge Gold and other mineral reserves these have been properly leveraged out to create liquidity in the country’s Economy. There is need for Zimbabwe to move away from total dependency on a foreign currency whose economy has nothing in common with Zimbabwe’s.
The Economy and Industry is currently reportedly operating at approximately 45 -50 % of capacity. This is significantly higher than the 10-20% capacity utilization before the introduction multiple currencies in 2009.Now the multiple currencies have achieved their main intended purpose which was to stabilize the Economy. This goal has now been achieved and the next phase which is growth requires the use of a softer currency which closely mirrors the country’s macro and micro economic conditions and the US$ can be used in its traditional sense as a foreign currency but not to permanently replace the Zimbabwe dollar.
Gilbert Muponda is CEO of GMRI Capital .He can be reached at gilbert@gmricapital.com
Skype ID - gilbert.muponda
Website - www.gmricapital.com
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