by Gift Mashoko

Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, told the world that Zimbabwe’s economy is on an upward trajectory.

In a recent interview with CNN International anchor and reporter Richard Quest, Minister Ncube said Zimbabwe’s economy has grown tremendously.

“In the last month of October, we balanced the budget, in fact we have a primary surplus. So we are making progress after only three months in this new Government,” he said.

He highlighted the challenges Zimbabwe is facing and how they are being dealt with.

“The budget recognises that we have a twin deficit challenge which is why we have a fiscal deficit and a current account deficit, but also we need to deal with our internal arrears in terms of debt restructuring.

“Our approach to that has been two-fold, one is obviously budget cuts in terms of wage bill revolutionalisation and on that front, President Emmerson Mnangagwa is leading the front, he cut his salary by 5%. We all cut our salaries by 5% as Ministers, to show leadership in terms of cost containment and in terms of austerity.

“We have also expanded the revenue base, by following on the informal sector which has expanded by the way. The economy is 40% bigger than we thought. So in order to expand the coverage, we introduced a 2% financial transaction tax.

“So those two together with cost containment and revenue expansion have worked very well for us in terms of fiscal discipline and fiscal consolidation,” he said.

This comes at a time when Government is embarking on a Transitional Stabilisation Program which will see Zimbabwe’s economy improving.  This is meant to open Zimbabwe’s economy making it more attractive to foreign investments.