HARARE – Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa claims Zimbabwe’s debt is much lower that reported. The country’s debt has been estimated at more than $11 billion. “We are currently verifying the size of our external debt and we are doing so with the creditors to agree the figures as to what we owe so that at…
HARARE – France says it is not yet ready to extend any financial support or credit lines to Zimbabwe. Laurent Delahouse, the country’s ambassador to Zimbabwe, yesterday said his government was still assessing the economic and political situation before committing. “It is too early to go into details about us (France) unveiling any credit lines…
HARARE – Zimbabwe has limited capacity to stop economic bleeding and mitigate liquidity constraints due to its inability to ease the markets quantitatively by controlling money supply, according to the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC). Prior to the introduction of a multi-currency regime in 2009, the country — through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe…
HARARE – Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa says Treasury did not receive any proceeds from diamond revenue in the nine months to September 2013. The newly-appointed minister — currently scrounging for 2014 budgetary support — told parliamentarians in Victoria Falls at a 2013 Budget Review Seminar last week that out of a targeted $40 million expected…
HARARE – Islamic group Orischart says it is in negotiations with monetary authorities in Zimbabwe to introduce Islamic banking in the country. Ashirai Mawere, an Orischart official, told businessdaily that they had engaged the central bank and Finance ministry. “We so much want to boost this nation’s economy through Islamic funds. “The issue to do…
HARARE – Full implementation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Staff Monitored Programme (SMP) in Zimbabwe will help reduce the country’s indebtedness, the African Development Bank (AfDB) says. The regional institution said, in its September 2013 monthly economic review, that adoption of the SMP will also unlock new inflows into the investment-starved country and also…
HARARE – Zimbabwe desperately needs external budgetary support to help revive its economy, former Finance minister Tendai Biti says. He said the greatest challenge in formulating the country’s 2014 budget will be limited resources. “…the task is always that of managing a tiny envelope in an ocean of high demand and huge expectations,” Biti said….
HARARE – Government must prioritise the recapitalisation of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) in the forthcoming 2014 National Budget to help ease liquidity challenges in the country, the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe (BAZ) said. In its contribution to Parliament’s budget consultations last week, the bankers’ representative body said “it is imperative that the central…
HARARE – The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE), in collaboration with the Securities Commission of Zimbabwe (SecZim), plans to introduce quarterly reporting as part of a set of new listing rules. Alban Chirume, ZSE’s chief executive, said the bourse intended to impose the shorter reporting periods as is done in other jurisdictions and in line with…
HARARE – Zimabwe plans to craft a law to set up a sovereign wealth fund by next February — but it may not have any money at first as the government desperately needs to develop the country’s crumbling infrastructure, the finance minister said. Patrick Chinamasa also said on Wednesday that the government would consider a…
