Feasibility and Rationale for Establishing a Debt Management Office in Zimbabwe

Abstract

This study looks at the feasibility and rationale of establishing a Debt Management Office (DMO) in Zimbabwe. This follows calls for the setting up of such an office by the Ministry of Finance as part of broad reforms to improve the conduct of debt management in the country. The study acknowledges that the current debt management practices in the country have a number of loopholes that may have contributed to the accumulation of the current high and unsustainable external debt, which remains a millstone around the country’s neck. The study notes that in line with recent trends in debt management, the country could improve its debt management practices through the setting up of a dedicated DMO. The study explored international best practices in debt management, structures and the ideal location of DMOs and recommend that the DMO be initially located within the Ministry of Finance during the initial years, in view of the financial and regulatory considerations, which require amendments to the current laws on debt management as well as enactment of the requisite legislation to create a statutory DMO in the medium-to-long term.