State owned enterprises are sitting on idle assets which could be listed on the newly demutualized Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) for the benefit of the economy, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa has said.
The local bourse, previously a non-profit member owned organisation, was this month transformed into a private company with government owning 32 percent of the exchange while stockbrokers control the remaining 68 percent shareholding.
Speaking at the demutualization ceremony yesterday where the two shareholders (Government and stockbrokers) were issued share certificates, Chinamasa said there was a lot of idle capital sitting on the balance sheets of a lot of major economic players in the country.
“These state corporations are sitting on idle assets and it is my strong view that the ZSE can play a role in adding value to these assets if we go the route of listing a substantial part of the assets on the exchange for local participation,” he said.
The main idea behind demutualization is the separation of ownership of the exchange from management in line with internationally accepted standards of corporate governance.
Chinamasa said government would reduce its shareholding from the current 32 percent to 16 while stockbrokers are expected to reduce theirs from 68 to 34 percent.- The Source
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