THE Bankers’ Association of Zimbabwe (BAZ) says it has completed the framework for setting up a credit bureau and now awaits regulatory approval by the Finance ministry and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), it has been learnt.
Business Reporter
Speaking at the Business Council of Zimbabwe (BCZ) conference in Harare last week, BAZ and BCZ president George Guvamatanga said the credit reference bureau would improve the flow of capital in the country.
“The responsibility of the credit reference bureau has moved from BAZ to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and Ministry of Finance. We hope they will be able to finalise it this year,” he said.
Guvamatanga said in other countries they have three credit reference bureaus. In his monetary policy statement for January 2013, RBZ governor Gideon Gono said the reference bureau would be completed by the first quarter of this year.
“The completion of the framework, which is targeted for March 2013, will pave way for the commencement of operations by accredited bureaus.
The bureau is expected to overcome the existence of asymmetric information between borrowers and lenders, gathering reliable information on potential borrowers on their past repayment behaviour that would determine the credit risk.
It will also reduce the default rates through the development of payment histories or reputation collateral used in securing more competitive loan rates. The credit bureau will stop debtors who go around borrowing money from many banks without repaying it as there would be a track record.
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Gono said in the long-term a legal framework would be put in place to regulate and supervise the credit reference bureau.
The calls for the establishment of a credit reference bureau came in 2012 from industries due to the high demand of credit in the multicurrency system.
Since 2009, the financial sector and companies have experienced high default rates due to non-repayment of loans and services by customers.
