Chinamasa has to walk the proverbial 'tight rope' on December 8

Finance AND Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa will present his 2017 National Budget Statement on the 8th of next month amid tight fiscal legroom and hope for faster economic growth.

The Minister will certainly have to walk the proverbial "tight rope" given contracting fiscal revenues and slower economic growth, as Zimbabwe battles the negative impact of tight liquidity, low investment and generally a difficult operating environment in the economy.

With little fiscal latitude, contracting revenue, increasing and desperate demands on the expenditure side, the minister has little space to maneuver; making planning for 2017 an unenviable task.

Minister Chinamasa projects fiscal revenues for the coming year to be around $4 billion, evidently little changed from trends over the last few years.

Revenue inflows have continued to shrink as companies struggle for viability, downsize operations or shutdown outright. The theme for the 2017 budget is 'Pushing the frontiers of Production,' in keeping with the Government's policy thrust to increase production and productivity in ongoing efforts to revive the economy.