HARARE – Zimbabwe’s foreign-currency reserves have risen to about US$900 million, bringing the country within reach of the symbolic US$1 billion mark, according to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
In a press statement issued on 26 September 2025, RBZ Governor Dr John Mushayavanhu said the reserves climbed from just over US$700 million at the end of June on the back of strong inflows from gold and tobacco exports.
Foreign-currency receipts reached US$10.4 billion by 31 August 2025, a 26.8 percent increase on the same period last year, while the current account surplus is projected to widen to about US$1.3 billion this year from US$501 million in 2024.
The MPC highlighted that the economy has enjoyed a full year of price and exchange-rate stability, supported by disciplined money-supply management and a build-up of foreign-currency reserves. It therefore resolved to keep the Bank Policy rate at 35 percent and to maintain existing statutory reserve requirements for ZiG and foreign-currency deposits.
“Considering the foregoing, the MPC has resolved to continue to ‘stay the course’ of the current monetary policy stance during the next quarter to durably anchor price and exchange rate stability,” Dr Mushayavanhu said.
Despite the progress, the reserve position remains well below international adequacy benchmarks. With imports running close to a billion dollars a month, the current stock of reserves provides less than a single month of import cover, far short of the three-to-six-month buffer usually regarded as prudent for emerging economies.
Analysts also note that Zimbabwe’s reserves need to be large enough to match short-term external debt, service foreign obligations, and give the central bank room to intervene in support of the ZiG currency—requirements that point to an “optimum” level of US$10 billion to US$12 billion for full de-dollarisation.
If the present pace of accumulation is maintained, Zimbabwe’s reserves could reach US$5 billion to US$6 billion by 2030, strengthening the country’s ability to stabilise the exchange rate and meet external commitments.
For now, the RBZ acknowledges that fiscal and regulatory challenges persist, making continued export growth and prudent monetary policy critical to sustaining the momentum.
