FINANCE minister Patrick Chinamasa has defended Zanu PF’s economic blueprint, Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim Asset), saying it contained some short term economic recovery plans to alleviate poverty and improve the livelihoods of ordinary Zimbabweans.
BY EVERSON MUSHAVA
Chinamasa said Zim Asset focuses on the immediate restoration of water and electricity supplies that were key enablers to economic recovery.
He, however, said the country’s challenge in the past was its inability to implement good programmes due to haggling by different parties in the former coalition government.
The minister was responding to questions raised by delegates at a dialogue session organised by Alpha Media Holdings (AMH), in Harare on Wednesday. “We want to know what the government is doing. Things are at a standstill. If people meet in the streets, they are always asking each other how things are. The economy is not performing,” one of the delegates asked.
“What plans do you have as government to solve the current economic standstill? My fear is some of the plans you have are long-term and by the time you want them to be realised, it could be too late.”
Over 700 companies have reportedly closed in Harare in recent years, while the remaining were facing viability challenges, raising fears the Zanu PF government was clueless on how to revive the economy.
Chinamasa, however, said the Zim Asset document, which is set to be made public soon, had clear programmes of action to address the situation, but took a swipe at Zimbabweans, saying most of them always wanted to be successful without sweating for it.
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“We need to lay a firm foundation for our economic take-off. We need to first of all address water and electricity challenges. We have started working to open those sectors to public-private partnerships (PPPs). Very soon we will have power-generating projects,” Chinamasa said.
He said the economic revival strategy would be anchored on the public private partnerships which would be negotiated in every sector of the economy.
The liquidity challenge the country was facing, Chinamasa said, was a result of the absence of interbank lending and lack of confidence in the central bank by investors.
He said Treasury would clear the central bank debt as a way of building investor confidence.
Chinamasa said he hoped mining and agriculture would play a critical role in the revival of the economy while creating linkages between sectors and value addition would activate the whole industry and create jobs.
“What we want to see is inter-linkages between the various facets of the economy. We have to reorganise the gold mining industry. Stories I hear are shameful. We will start by decriminalising and reorganising gold panning to make sure that the country benefits from the 10 000 panners,” Chinamasa said.
“We also have to reorganise the diamond industry and unlock its value. It is time that Zimbabwe becomes a part of the diamond family.”
