News / National
Chinamasa in a catch 22 situation
23 Apr 2015 at 09:43hrs | Views
PATRICK Chinamasa, the Finance Minister, is in an ultimate catch 22 as he struggles to squeeze money out of nothing with apparently no ample legroom to manoeuvre to deliver for the broke country as the nation's chief budget master.
This comes at a time when some civil servants are calling for his ouster.
With his options having boiled down to either not paying bonuses or retrenching civil servants, Chinamasa's climb down on suspending bonuses for two years, might see him with no choice but to drastically do the latter.
The Finance Minister's lofty task to pull resources out of a magical hat came to a head last week when President Robert Mugabe vetoed what he had deemed as an option to create fiscal space by announcing that there would be no bonuses for civil servants for 2015 and 2016.
As if eating humble pie when he had to apologise for making the no bonus decision is not enough, Chinamasa also faces the wrath of some teachers who are agitating for his ouster following what they are calling failure to increase the national pie.
Some economists are also on his back accusing him of not being sensitive to sectors that drive growth in the economy.
That his options are next to nil, in a country that has been in free fall long before he became the country's exchequer in 2013, is not enough to halt the odds against him.
Local pressures are not the only ones he has to fend off. The Bretton Woods lending institutions expect him to cut the country's wage bill as a sign of commitment to free fiscal space in order to service outstanding debt to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, before the two can consider re-engagement.
Although there had been some reluctance to retrench civil servants amid some planned resistance to that measure from various quarters, former education minister, David Coltart told the Financial Gazette that Chinamasa would have to cut down either travel expenses, perks or civil service.
Information Minister Jonathan Moyo downplayed the row over bonuses this week and said the issue was finished.
"The bottom line is that bonuses for civil servants have been reinstated as directed by the President and they will be paid accordingly. There's nothing to debate about that. Full stop. End of the story," said Moyo.
This comes at a time when some civil servants are calling for his ouster.
With his options having boiled down to either not paying bonuses or retrenching civil servants, Chinamasa's climb down on suspending bonuses for two years, might see him with no choice but to drastically do the latter.
The Finance Minister's lofty task to pull resources out of a magical hat came to a head last week when President Robert Mugabe vetoed what he had deemed as an option to create fiscal space by announcing that there would be no bonuses for civil servants for 2015 and 2016.
As if eating humble pie when he had to apologise for making the no bonus decision is not enough, Chinamasa also faces the wrath of some teachers who are agitating for his ouster following what they are calling failure to increase the national pie.
Some economists are also on his back accusing him of not being sensitive to sectors that drive growth in the economy.
That his options are next to nil, in a country that has been in free fall long before he became the country's exchequer in 2013, is not enough to halt the odds against him.
Local pressures are not the only ones he has to fend off. The Bretton Woods lending institutions expect him to cut the country's wage bill as a sign of commitment to free fiscal space in order to service outstanding debt to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, before the two can consider re-engagement.
Although there had been some reluctance to retrench civil servants amid some planned resistance to that measure from various quarters, former education minister, David Coltart told the Financial Gazette that Chinamasa would have to cut down either travel expenses, perks or civil service.
Information Minister Jonathan Moyo downplayed the row over bonuses this week and said the issue was finished.
"The bottom line is that bonuses for civil servants have been reinstated as directed by the President and they will be paid accordingly. There's nothing to debate about that. Full stop. End of the story," said Moyo.
Source - fingaz
