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THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has said it was working with the government to place the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) and the Small Enterprises Development Corporation (Sedco) under its supervision. The two entities, which fall under the Ministry of Finance and that of Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development respectively, are not regulated by the central bank.

IDBZ is primarily involved in the funding of backbone infrastructure while Sedco funds small and medium enterprises.
“These measures will promote financial sector stability through ensuring adherence by all players in the financial services sector, to sound risk management practices and the protection of depositors through oversight by a supervisory authority,” the RBZ said in its monetary statement released on Monday.

The IDBZ, which posted a profit of $2.2 million for the year ending December 2013, down from $3.5 million the previous year, was red-flagged by its auditors, Deloitte who questioned its ability to continue as a going concern as its liabilities were worth more than its assets by $6 million.
Operations of the bank, unlike those of other financial institutions, are not under the scrutiny of the central bank.

Sedco on the other hand remains largely invisible due to lack of adequate funding from the government despite the huge appetite for financial and other support from the SMEs sector. – New Ziana.