The much-awaited five-year economic blueprint, the Medium-Term Plan (MTP) was launched on Thursday amid calls for the government and all stakeholders to ensure its full implementation if the country is to achieve set targets.
Officially launching the economic blueprint that will cover the period 2011 to 2015, Vice-President Joice Mujuru said the plan provides a platform for consolidating the macroeconomic stability achieved under the Short-Term Economic Recovery Programme. The plan envisages a sustainable economic growth rate of 7%, which should result in significant job creation for poverty reduction.
“However, government in launching this plan, is not only interested in economic growth, but also in the equitable distribution of wealth. This is why due emphasis is accorded to the indigenisation and economic empowerment programme.
“In launching this blueprint, we are effectively pronouncing our national priorities and national key result areas.
“It is therefore our expectation as government that the private sector, cooperating partners and the donor community, is guided accordingly by those national priorities in complementing our national efforts.”
Finance minister Tendai Biti said: “The MTP guarantees the extension of the multiple currency regime.”
He however said there it was a need to address issues to do with democracy, deficits and violence, failure of which the country should forget about development.
“There is less than 23% of tarred roads, which is not right. We are 25 years behind hence we have to make up for the infrastructure deficit.”
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Economic Planning and Investment Promotion minister Tapiwa Mashakada said the MTP will address structural and institutional bottlenecks in the economy.
“There is need to restore our country production so as to recover the lost decade,” he said.
Mashakada said there was an urgent need to effectively deal with the privatisation and commercialisation of State enterprises such as Air Zimbabwe that continue to bleed the national fiscus.
