By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Tanzania’s central bank has bought about 28 metric tons of gold, over the past 18 months to boost its foreign reserves and support the shilling currency, the Governor Emmanuel Tutuba said.
A finance ministry statement on Wednesday quoted Tutuba as saying the purchased gold was worth $3.68 billion at current prices.
The central bank chief spoke on Tuesday at an International Monetary Fund-World Bank meeting in The Gambia.
The East African country’s central bank has been buying gold for its reserves since about 2023.
Tanzania’s mining regulator had in September 2024 ordered all mining firms and traders exporting gold to allocate at least 20% of the commodity for sale to the central bank.
Tanzania is one of the top 10 gold producers in Africa.
The central bank governor said the gold purchase programme had resulted in more than 4,000 new accounts opened at financial institutions by mineral traders and small-scale miners.
At last week’s interest rate announcement, Tutuba claimed that his country has equivalent to 4.3 months of imports.
