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Midlands Bureau Chief
THE government has availed $27 million for the recapitalisation of CAPS Pharmaceuticals (Pvt) Ltd which has been ailing since the introduction of the multi-currency system, Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister Chiratidzo Mabuwa has said.
Speaking during a tour of different manufacturing companies in Gweru yesterday, Deputy Minister Mabuwa said the Ministry of Finance had availed funds to revive the giant pharmaceutical company in a development which will see CAPS increasing production.
“The government through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has availed $27 million for funding of the pharmaceutical sector and recapitalisation of CAPS,” she said.
Deputy Minister Mabuwa said the government would soon operationalise the $100 million credit facility made available by the African Import and Export Bank in 2014 to assist ailing industries.
“Zimbabwe’s Economic and Trade Revival Facility (ZETREF) is a $100 million three-year credit facility made available by African Import and Export Bank and the government who contributed $70 million and $30 million respectively.”
She said work was in progress to resume the facility with rates that are better than the ones being offered by local financial institutions.
Deputy Minister Mabuwa said most companies that benefited from the Distressed and Marginalised Areas Fund (Dimaf) had failed to pay back the loans resulting in the government engaging judicial managers to help the companies pay back the money.
“The ministry has also facilitated the availing of $20 million under the Distressed and Marginalised Areas Fund (Dimaf) since 2010. The amount that was available for lending last year was $4.6 million.
“The main drawback has been the failure to pay back by companies that accessed loans under Dimaf.
“However, to that end we’ve scaled up a situation where we provide judicial managers to help the companies and ensure they pay back the debt. We’re going to ensure that companies get experts who assist them,” she said.
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