The Credit Reference Bureau, a system which contains credit history report of a prospective borrower before granting credit is anticipated to go live on Monday, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe John Mangudya has said.

This came after a Czech Republic credit checker, Creditinfo was in April last year awarded the tender by the apex bank to set up the system at a cost of $1,8 million with a view to improve credit risk management in the country’s financial sector.

“We are quite happy with progress we are now going live on Monday. Most banks have finalised giving us data to put in the system. They (Creditinfo) set up the system we have sent our team for training and now they know how to operate the system. So they (Creditinfo) will host the system,” Mangudya said at the sidelines of the Macro-economic and Financial Management Institute of Eastern And Southern Africa (MEFMI) breakfast meeting in Harare yesterday.

The credit reference bureau is anticipated to improve the bank’s non-performing loans ratio which declined to 7,87% as at 31 December 2016 from a peak of 20,45% courtesy of the disposal of loans to the Zimbabwe Asset Management Company (Zamco).