Zimbabwe suspends majority local-ownership rules

Under the regulations, which came into effect on March 1, foreign-owned companies, including banks and mines, had 45 days to submit proposals on how they planned to sell 51 percent of their shares to black Zimbabweans within five years.

The deadline for submitting proposals was Thursday April 15.

"The cabinet has today declared those regulations null and void, and they are being suspended to allow for broad-based consultations on the best way to proceed," spokesman James Maridadi told Reuters.

"Nothing is going to happen until the regulations have been reviewed to get a consensus on the way forward," he said.

There was no immediate comment from President Robert Mugabe's officials, who have been leading the empowerment drive despite warnings that this would discourage foreign investment at a time when the new administration is trying to attract funds to revive an economy that has suffered from a decade of decline.

Key foreign players in Zimbabwe's mining industry include Anglo Platinum and Impala Platinum Holdings, and Rio Tinto has gold and diamond mines in the country.

Britain's Standard Chartered Plc, Barclays Bank Plc and a unit of South Africa's Standard Bank are foreign-owned banks with operations in Zimbabwe.

(Reporting by Cris Chinaka; editing by Tim Pearce)