Zimbabwe’s Social Security Authority Takes 84% Stake In Troubled Bank
13 February 2012
The state-run Herald newspaper quoted Renaissance Bank Curator Reggie
Saruchera as saying NSSA will inject US$10 million and convert to equity an
earlier US$8.5 million loan to the bank that cannot be repaid
Gibbs Dube | Washington
Zimbabwe’s National Social Security Authority has taken an 84 percent
controlling stake in Renaissance Merchant Bank, placed under curatorship
last June by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe in response to irregularities and
a US$16-million hole in its accounts.
The state-controlled Herald newspaper quoted Renaissance Bank Curator Reggie
Saruchera as saying NSSA will inject US$10 million into Renaissance and
convert to equity an earlier US$8.5 million loan to the bank that cannot be
repaid in cash.
The Herald quoted Saruchera as saying the authority will move the bank out
of curatorship within weeks and help it meet the minimum capital
requirements set by the reserve bank. For a merchant bank that is US$10
million.
The NSSA deal caused a stir in parliament and the finance sector last June
when it was made public. Critics charged that Finance Minister Tendai Biti
had engineered the deal for the benefit of relatives in bank management.
Biti dismissed those allegations.
Percy Mcijo, Matabeleland regional officer of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions, said the deal will not benefit retirees now drawing pensions of
US$60 a month.
“NSSA should seriously consider giving workers housing loans and increasing
pension benefits for retirees who are normally sidelined in such deals,”
Mcijo said.
Economist Prosper Chitambara said the social security authority will reap
the benefits of the deal when Renaissance eventually turns a profit.