Government to issue two bonds this year

Government is set issue two bonds on the stock market this year to increase the number of tradable securities and avail more opportunities for long term investment, the central bank said.Central bank Governor, Ambassador Clever Gatete, announced this during the reading of the monetary policy and financial stability statement last week. The two bonds are a seven-year bond to be issued at the end of this month with a specific bond for the Diaspora community to be issued in June. Gatete noted that the transactions especially on the secondary market for treasury bonds were minimal. The turn-over on the secondary market only recorded Rwf 500 million as security holders (over 90 percent are commercial banks) preferred to keep them until the maturity date. In order to keep the young market active, there should be products and daily transactions on the stock exchange for Rwandans but currently, there are only a few being traded. According to the central bank statement, BNR together with capital markets authority and other stake holders have put in place new strategies to enhance the development of the financial market. “The performance on our stock exchange can be impressive given the fact that our economy was not much affected by external shocks like our regional neighbours,” noted Gatete.Some of the measures put in place to enhance market development include procurement of an electronic trading platform at the Rwandan stock exchange and regulation of small and medium enterprises wishing to raise long term capital through the capital markets. Currently, two local companies Bank of Kigali and Bralirwa, Rwanda’s largest beer manufacturer are listed on the market while foreign companies that have cross listed are Kenya Commercial, Nation Media Group and Safaricom. Bank of Kigali Initial Public Offer attracted 6,721 applicants compared to 3,939 applicants for Bralirwa and according to the central bank, this shows increasing interest in the public to invest in capital markets.