Omega Ukama 
GETBUCKS Microfinance Bank (GetBucks) has entered into negotiations with a view to raise funds.
The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed micro-lender urged caution in the trading of its shares last week, saying the impending capital raise, “if successfully concluded, may have a material effect on the price of the company’s securities”.
“Shareholders will pursue equity transactions to bridge the gap between the minimum capital requirement and the current regulatory requirement. However, given the limited amount of time to December 2021, it is unlikely that the regulatory capital will be met, and the regulator has been approached with a request to extend the deadline,” Getbucks said in the update, which was released in November last year.
It also comes as the bank’s credit lines have lately tapered on account of tight liquidity in Zimbabwe. In a trading update given in May last year, Getbucks said the tight control on reserve money by the central bank made it harder to access wholesale lines of credit during the three months ended March 31, 2021.
The monetary authorities, who have concluded that money supply is “directly proportional to inflation”, have been trying to keep reserve money growth ― the fundamental component of money stock ― under control to arrest inflation, which closed 2021 at 60,74 percent.
Like most microlenders, GetBucks has been significantly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The bank said it saw low trading levels in 2020, when the contagion was at its peak.
In 2020, GetBucks abandoned restructure plans that would have seen the bank establishing a holding company.
