SA will provide Zimbabwe with $100m, says Biti

SA will provide Zimbabwe with $100m, says Biti

South Africa had approved $100 million (R912m) in budgetary support to Zimbabwe, helping plug a gap in government finances ahead of elections expected later this year, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said yesterday. Last year, Biti said Harare had asked South Africa and Angola for $150m amid a lack of aid from Western donors, who imposed sanctions on President Robert Mugabe and his inner circle. “Pursuant to discussions in September 2012, I’m aware the South African cabinet has made a decision and it’s a positive decision,” Biti said. A South African Treasury spokeswoman said the two governments were “engaged in ongoing discussions” about the loan and its terms and declined to comment further. Biti said he had made an additional plea to South Africa and Angola to fund this year’s elections. “It is self-evident that Treasury has no capacity to fund elections. We’re not going to borrow again for the elections,” he said, repeating his call for foreign funding for polls with an initial budget of $132m. – Reuters

Export gains lift factory outlook

Manufacturing confidence increased by four index points to 42 points in the first quarter of this year, according to a Bureau for Economic Research (BER) survey released yesterday. Although this was the index’s third consecutive increase, it remained below the level of 47 reached in the first quarter of 2012. Lisette IJssel de Schepper, an economist at Stellenbosch University’s BER, said the main positive result was an improvement in export performance. “Both the indicator for export sales and order volumes recorded significant increases. In fact, the indicator for export sales volumes now stands at its highest level since the first quarter of 2003.” – Sapa