THE Deposit Protection Corporation (DPC) grew its Deposit Protection Fund (DPF) by 89% to US$28,8 million in 2025, as a US$13,4 million surplus and robust investment returns boosted the institution’s financial firepower to protect depositors and support financial sector stability.
The fund’s growth surpassed DPC’s full-year target of US$24,9 million, reflecting stronger premium inflows and investment gains during the year.
The corporation’s funding sources comprise of premium income, rentals and investment income.
Premium income accounts for 63% of the total income mix, while investment income accounts for 33% and rental income for 1%.
Premium contribution rates for both ZiG and USD deposits remained pegged at 0,3% of annual average deposits eligible for premium assessment.
The total assessed premium income for the year was ZiG49,4 million and US$8,9 million.
“The DPC Fund recorded its strongest annual growth, rising sharply by 89% from US$15,2 million in December 2024 to US$28,8 million by December 2025. The fund surpassed the full year forecast for FY2025 of US$24,9 million.
“This steep increase indicates substantial inflows from premium collections and investment gains,” DPC chief executive officer Hopewell Zinyau said in the corporation’s 2025 Annual Report said.
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“The surge demonstrates accelerated fund accumulation and significantly enhances the corporation’s loss‑absorption capacity.
“The corporation recorded a net surplus, nearly double the budget, of US$13,4 million for the FY2025 driven mainly by stronger USD premiums, exceptional investment income and well contained expenditures which were 12% below the budgeted annual costs.”
Deposit insurance coverage for commercial banks remained unchanged during the year, with eligible deposits protected up to the ZiG equivalent of US$1 000 per deposit category.
Coverage for USD-denominated deposits also stayed at US$1 000.
For deposit-taking microfinance institutions, the protection limit was maintained at the ZiG equivalent of US$500 per deposit category.
“The corporation engaged actuarial consultants to review the cover level, and work has commenced to determine the impact of an upward review of the cover level.
“The review process is expected to be completed in preparation for an upward revision of the coverage levels in the 2026 financial year,” Zinyau said.
“At the prevailing coverage thresholds, deposit insurance fully covers 99,4% of ZiG denominated and 96,3% of USD-denominated accounts within commercial banking institutions (CBIs).
“Similarly, coverage currently stands at 99,93% of ZiG denominated and 99,95% of USD denominated accounts in deposit‑taking microfinance institutions.”
Based on the report, the bulk of the deposits covered were concentrated in demand deposits, accounting for 84% of total ZiG deposits and 80% of total USD deposits respectively.
Time deposits were a distant 12% and 14%.
“Total deposits eligible for premium assessment increased by 58% from ZiG12,9 billion in 2024 to ZiG20,5 billion, while foreign currency deposits increased by 34% from US$2,6 billion to US$3,5 billion,” Zinyau said.
“The growth in deposits eligible for premium assessment reflects the monetary policy developments that prevailed during the year.”
Looking ahead, DPC has set clear priorities which include full implementation of the Single Customer View (SCV) system across all contributory institutions.
Priority will also be given to the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to enhance automation of processes, robust investment drive to boost fund size and expanding ESG reporting in line with Vision 2030.
The ERP system is integrated software that allows an organisation to manage its core business processes through a single platform instead of using separate systems for finance, human resources, procurement, inventory, payroll, risk management, and reporting.
