AGL 40.20 Decreased By ▼ -1.30 (-3.13%)
AIRLINK 129.11 Increased By ▲ 1.11 (0.87%)
BOP 6.60 Increased By ▲ 0.34 (5.43%)
CNERGY 4.03 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-2.42%)
DCL 8.45 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.12%)
DFML 41.25 Increased By ▲ 0.56 (1.38%)
DGKC 87.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.90 (-1.02%)
FCCL 33.35 Decreased By ▼ -0.75 (-2.2%)
FFBL 65.90 Decreased By ▼ -0.43 (-0.65%)
FFL 10.54 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.19%)
HUBC 110.70 Increased By ▲ 2.00 (1.84%)
HUMNL 15.23 Increased By ▲ 0.77 (5.33%)
KEL 4.78 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (2.8%)
KOSM 7.83 Increased By ▲ 0.50 (6.82%)
MLCF 41.90 Decreased By ▼ -0.82 (-1.92%)
NBP 60.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.34 (-0.56%)
OGDC 182.80 Increased By ▲ 3.83 (2.14%)
PAEL 25.36 Decreased By ▼ -0.34 (-1.32%)
PIBTL 6.26 Increased By ▲ 0.20 (3.3%)
PPL 147.81 Increased By ▲ 1.66 (1.14%)
PRL 24.56 Decreased By ▼ -0.35 (-1.41%)
PTC 16.24 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (0.62%)
SEARL 70.50 Increased By ▲ 0.30 (0.43%)
TELE 7.30 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (1.11%)
TOMCL 36.30 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (0.28%)
TPLP 7.85 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.13%)
TREET 15.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.29 (-1.86%)
TRG 51.70 Increased By ▲ 1.34 (2.66%)
UNITY 27.35 Increased By ▲ 0.45 (1.67%)
WTL 1.23 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.81%)
BR100 9,842 Increased By 47.4 (0.48%)
BR30 30,036 Increased By 389.6 (1.31%)
KSE100 92,520 Increased By 499.1 (0.54%)
KSE30 28,786 Increased By 121.7 (0.42%)

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has signed into law a bill giving local owners the right to take majority control of foreign companies, including mines and banks, a government newspaper reported on Sunday.
Analysts fear the move could sound the death knell for an economy that has also suffered from foreign investor flight, and is struggling with the world's highest inflation rate of over 100,000 percent.
The government has sought to allay business fears of a blanket seizure of companies by saying the authorities would work with different industries to set timetables for foreign-owned firms to transfer shares to locals.
The Sunday Mail said Mugabe, who is seeking re-election in general elections on March 29, had approved the controversial bill in a seal of assent in a weekend government gazette of legal notices.
"President Mugabe has assented to the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Bill, paving the way for the Indigenisation of Zimbabwe's economy and the economic empowerment of the country's indigenous citizens," the weekly said.
The government gazette was not immediately available on Sunday, and the minister in charge of black empowerment was also unavailable to comment on the issue.
Mugabe's ZANU-PF party rammed the bill through parliament last September despite fierce resistance from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change which saw it as a drive to enrich a few powerful individuals and to win votes in the elections.
Mugabe's government-which critics accuse of plunging Zimbabwe into turmoil by seizing white-owned farms and handing them to inexperienced black farmers-says the bill is part of its drive to empower the country's poor majority.
Mining and business industry officials have warned the law could quicken the decline of Zimbabwe's economy, which has shrunk by at least 30 percent since 1999.
A separate bill on the key mining sector has been published and government officials expect Mugabe's ZANU-PF to push it through later this year if it is re-elected on March 29.
Mugabe, 84 and in power since independence from Britain in 1980, denies he has mismanaged one of Africa's most promising economies and has predicted a massive win for his party. The veteran Zimbabwean leader is facing a his former finance minister, Simba Makoni, and long time rival Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC. But analysts say the divided opposition may hand victory to Mugabe.

Copyright Reuters, 2008

Comments

Comments are closed.