By ADAM IHUCHA --The East African Development Bank (EADB) has received
a major boost, as Tanzania granted a tax relief on income derived from its
bonds, as it seeks to aid the bank to bolster its lending capacity.
In 2015/16 budget, Finance Minister,
Ms Saada Mkuya had proposed an amendment of the Income Tax Act, cap 332, among
others, to exempt income tax and interests derived from bonds issued by the
EADB on the Tanzania domestic capital market.
As luck would have it, on June 25,
2015, Tanzania’s parliament, endorsed the finance bill 2015, formally amending
the law as per minister’s proposal, offering the regional lender -- EADB and
its bonds holders a sigh of relief.
This implies that EADB as issuer and
the holders of its bonds now would be
eligible for a 30 percent free income tax liability and interests derived from
its bonds listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE).
Ms Mkuya says that the measure is
expected to bolster the Bank's lending capacity and therefore provides more
concessional loans to mega development projects in the country such as
infrastructure, agriculture and energy.
Experts seem to agree
that tax cuts would certainly stimulate
the EADB bonds listed on the Tanzania’s capital market--DSE, as the relief
tends to attract investors.
Nicholaus
Duhia - Managing Director - Taxplan Associates Ltd in Arusha says that bonds offer an essential component of many financial plans, but
there is always the sticky matter of taxes.
“Here we are talking about 30 percent income tax cut on EADB’s
bonds. This is great relief to afford the bank to prop up its capital base to be able to play its lending role
successfully,” he notes.
Dar Es Salaam Stock
Exchange (DSE) research and market development manager, Mr Ibrahim Mshindo says
that the bank is likely to raise a
relative cheap capital because more investors are expected to be attracted with
sweeteners on tax exemption
“We think that the government’s move
on tax exemption will enhance the bank’s ability to offer low cost loans for investment
in various development projects such as infrastructures” Mr Mshindo explains.
According to him, the EADB had issued
bonds on DSE in the years 1999, 2002 and 2005 where it had raised Tshs 12.5
billion ($6.25 million), Tshs 20 billion ($10 million) and Tshs 15 billion
($7.5 million) respectively.
Efforts to get a word from the EADB’s
Director general, Ms Vivianne Yeda proved futile as her personal assistant
Elizabeth Kiago says that she was away from office.
“We appreciate your enquiry and
interest in EADB. The Director General is away from the office. We will be able
to revert to you upon her return next week” Ms Kiago replies in e-mail.
It is understood, the bank's financial performance has continued to
improve in terms of both returns on assets (RoA) and on equity (RoE) in recent
years.
For instance the total assets grew by 26
percent to $306 million in March 2015, up from $242 million in March 2014,
latest data shows.
This significant increase in bank’s assets was
financed by additional capital payments from the EAC member states, increased
profitability and revaluation surplus.
Figures from the EAC indicate that the EADB net
worth surged to $229 million, up from $175 million in the period under review,
representing an increase of 31 percent.
The total income in 2014 was $9.8 million
compared to $8.5 million in 2013, the EAC data shows.
As if that was not enough, the portfolio is
robust and well diversified across all sectors. Statistics indicate that the
bank’s portfolio increased by 11 percent from $114.9 million in March 2014 to
$127 million in March 2015.
The bank’s efficiency has also improved
consistently with the cost to income ratio declining to 48 percent in March
2014, from 51 percent in 2013.
The EADB also saw
non-performing loans (NPLs) dropped sharply to 1.4 per cent as at the end of
last year compared to 32 per cent in 2010, prompting global rating agency Moody’s upgrading the bank to Baa3,
which carries a stable outlook, from the weaker Ba1 issued in 2013.
By the end of last
year, paid-up capital of the lender stood at $173 million that was 14 per cent
higher than the previous year. The amount was a 73 per cent increase compared
to December 2012.
With the current
capital level means that EADB has a big room to lend more and increase assets.
“The main reasons for
EADB’s upgrade to Baa3 are: A significant improvement in the capital buffer due
to a material increase in paid-in capital by the shareholders and a sharp
decline in non-performing loans as a result of the bank’s sustained efforts to
restructure its balance sheet,” Moody’s said in a statement.
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