By Dakarai Tembo
It is all smiles for Government workers as Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Professor Mthuli Ncube revealed that civil servants bonuses would be paid in November 2019.
Prof Ncube’s announcement comes at a time the opposition and other anti-Government elements are leaving no stone unturned in their quest to shut down Zimbabwe through a series of demonstrations in protest of Government’s alleged insincerity to the plight of its citizenry.
In previous years, Government workers had a staggered schedule for their 13th cheque, a situation that saw many of them getting the bonuses as late as July the following year.
Prof Ncube’s post budget review breakfast meeting held at Rainbow Towers Hotel hammered on highlights depicting that there are indeed dividends to Government’s austerity measures. He reiterated that Government was setting economic fundamentals and that he was optimistic that sooner the country would have an offshore financial services sector.
“I am confident about this because of the people of Zimbabwe and the skills they offer. This will direct foreign investment into Zimbabwe. We are serious about setting up an offshore financial services centre in Zimbabwe to compete with Mauritius,” he said.
Delegates were taken across strides made so far with regards to efforts Government is making to return to normalcy in the country’s economic sector. Prof Mthuli also indicated that “power supply situation is set to improve from Wednesday (9 August 2019). Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has commenced paying agreed instalments towards clearing the legacy debt which will unlock 400 Mega Watts.”
Ministry of Finance and Economic Development Permanent Secretary, George Guvamatanga confirmed the development saying it was only a matter of time before the long hours of load shedding become history.
