Fin24 reports that according to Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, pension funds or retirement savings should be used to finance infrastructure projects.  

He was briefing MPs on the supplementary budget, when he weighed in on amending Regulation 28 of the Pension Funds Act in response to a question about his position on asset prescription.  Regulation 28 provides guidance to pension funds and similar institutions on their investments and currently refers to investment in immovable property.  "There has been a narrow definition from investment managers on how they deal with this regulation.  Government wants the definition to include immovable property and infrastructure.  That is all we wanted to do, try to unlock in the minds of investment managers that they can invest a percentage of their investable funds in infrastructure, in addition to immovable property," Mboweni indicated.  He advised that the Financial Sector Conduct Authority intended to release a policy document on this issue, which would hopefully take place in the next six months.  Noting that the regulation provided guidance on the different percentages that should be invested in certain asset classes, Mboweni gave the assurance that the government had no intention of amending the current 25% allocation to immovable property.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lameez Omarjee at Fin24

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