THURSDAY, 10.30AM
MONEY market players are expecting the Reserve Bank to engineer a “soft landing” for about $1-billion in poroceeds from the partial privatisation of parastatal telecoms corporation Telkom.
The money is expected to enter the financial system from Thursday, and the Bank has promised to ease its impact on the money market. Without intervention, such a large inflow would be likely to sharply reduce the money market shortage, leading to falls in money market rates.
However, the mechanism of the buffer remains a mystery. A Bank representative said three options had been considered: a special treasury bill auction, foreign currency-rand swaps and moving government deposits between the exchequer account and the tax and loan accounts held with commercial banks. The representative declined to specify which option had been selected.
BUSINESS BRIEFS
NAM EASES EXCHANGE CONTROLS THE Bank of Namibia has relaxed exchange controls in line with similar moves by SA in March.
SEIFSA EXTENDS MATERNITY BENEFITS THE Steel and Engineering Industries’ Federation on Wednesday agreed to extend workers six months’ paid maternity leave, including offering the benefit to foster mothers of children under six months. However, the offer forms part of current wage negotiations, where no agreement has yest been reached.
PARASTATALS TO REVEAL ALL AN amendment to the Reporting by Public Entities Act tabled in Parliament on Wednesday will lead to parastatals being required to disclose the same information in their annual reports as private-sector companies. The change comes after criticism by auditor general Henri Kluever, who said “financial reporting of public entities was generally deficient”.
UNIFRUCO SELLS WINE ON THE WEB UNIFRUCO has made use of ther internet to market a new export wine. A 1996 Chenin Blanc Chardonnay has been launched on the British market under the name Arniston Bay. Picture postcards of the southern Cape fishing village of Arniston were sent to 800 UK supermarket managers, pointing them to the site which tells the story of the village.