Construction sector borrowing soars

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THE construction sector’s offshore borrowing increased a hundredfold to US$293,8 million in 2020, from US$2,9 million in 2019, data released by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) shows.
It comes as the country’s deteriorating economic environment, headlined by high inflation and currency volatility, has kept domestic lending at a minimum.
The official data, which was released a fortnight ago, shows that the construction sector accounted for 22 percent of the country’s external borrowing in 2020, up from only 0,28 percent in 2019.

The sector has lately seen an uptick in projects. Masimba Holdings, a Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed construction company reported that its revenue doubled to $666,13 million during the half-year to June 2020 from $320,68 million during the prior comparable period, “mainly driven by an increase in road and civil projects”.