Zimbabwe says plans $100 milion infrastructure bond

Zimbabwe says plans $100 milion infrastructure bond

Reuters

HARARE- Zimbabwe plans to float a $100 million bond to rebuild its dilapidated infrastructure as the country struggles to attract foreign investment, the finance minister said on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe’s infrastructure, such as its roads, railways, dams and power plants, has been starved of finance due to a decade of economic collapse, which eased somewhat with the formation of a power-sharing government in 2009.

“Very soon we are going to issue a $100 million infrastructure bond through our financial institutions,” Finance Minister Tendai Biti told an investor conference in Harare.

He give no further details.

Zimbabwe has been using the U.S. dollar since 2009 when the country abandoned the Zimbabwean dollar after inflation reached 500 billion percent.

A coalition government formed between political rivals President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has managed to stabilise the economy but the country faces a cash crunch as investors stay on the sidelines.