GWERU — Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono, who has applauded the 2012 National Budget presented by Finance minister Tendai Biti last Thursday, has warned the absence of an election budget was a potential minefield.
Addressing delegates at a business dinner organised by a local hotel and the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) on Saturday night, Gono cited two critical things missing from next year’s Budget.
“There are potential minefields in the generally good Budget. I have been the governor for several years now and I know what an election budget can do. If it turns that elections are there next year as has been pronounced, it means that we will be in a fix unless we have a purse elsewhere,” Gono said.
“Not budgeting for elections is a potential minefield and so is not budgeting for civil servants’ increments. I am a civil servant myself and I know what I can do if I do not get an increment,” he added.
The governor also reiterated calls to stop using the American dollar and advised that Zimbabweans should move towards using the Chinese currency.
“The United States dollar and the euro continue to weaken,” he said. “If the currency we have adopted goes down the tube, we will not remain standing.
“The world is moving away from the US dollar as a reserve currency and it is also time that we moved towards the Chinese currency as we look east. Let’s not be caught napping,” he said.
Gono lamented policy inconsistencies by Cabinet ministers as negatively affecting the investment drive. “As a chicken farmer, I feel it’s a shame to be importing chicken feet and livers from Brazil and other countries after the land reform programme which we say we embarked on.
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