Zimbabwe to have bond market by 2017

Central bank governor John Mangudya says Zimbabwe will have a fully-fledged bond market by 2017 as the economy self corrects after facing nearly a decade of recession.

Mangudya said recent trends of deflation were reflecting the re-adjustment of the economy.

Zimbabwe’s year-on-year inflation rate for October stood at -0.001 percent after shedding 0.09 percentage points on the September 2014 rate of 0.09 percent.

“We expect to have a fully-fledged bond market in the next two to three years,” Mangudya said in an interview with the CNBC Africa television channel.

Bonds are now seen as a tool for plugging funding gaps arising from the fiscal pressure being piled on Treasury and failure by government to access long-term capital due to a huge debt overhang of $10 billion.

Experts say the coupon rate is currently above money and equities market returns.

An equities research firm Lynton-Edwards Stockbrokers recently said to date more than five companies had come to the market to issue bonds as they seek new alternatives of raising the much needed capital.- The Source

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