Zimbabwe fairs badly on World Bank rankings

The World Bank says countries such as Zimbabwe need to further improve on the economic management and structural policies following the poor ranking in the latest World Bank's Country Policy and Institutional Assessment Index.

According to the World Bank's Country Policy and Institutional Assessment, which examines 16 key developmental indicators covering areas such as structural reforms, economic management and public sector management, Eritrea and Zimbabwe have the least scores in terms of structural reforms.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion, Dr Desire Sibanda however dismissed the report as not reflective of the economic progress in the country, arguing that the country has put in place prudent macroeconomic policies which has resulted in low inflation and improved FDI inflows.

Despite government's assertions, the country still has a lot of work to do in terms of attracting investment given the recent policy inconsistencies as well as discord around key capital projects such as the Chisumbanje Ethanol project and the ESSAR deal.

Macro-economic blue prints such as the Short Term Emergency Recovery Programme (STERP) have not been consistently implemented, a situation which observers say is contributing to the slow-down in economic growth and poor global economic rankings.

Zimbabwe has however posted commendable growth rates of 5,7% in 2009 and 8,1% in 2010.

Comments