Zimbabwe in a mess, says Chinamasa

Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa on Thursday presented a mid-term fiscal policy review statement to Parliament.

Below are some highlights which have been described as a mess.

• Chinamasa proposes to cut 25,000 jobs by December 2017, saving $155 million annually
• Finance Minister also seeks to freeze civil servants' bonuses for the next two years, to save $180 million
• Government to consider closing some embassies
• Diaspora remittances down 15 percent to $387,9 million in the first six months of 2016
• Diamond production at 972,765 carats against target of 6 million carats
• Tobacco production above target at 201 million kg as at September 5, 2016
• Maize output seen at 511,000 tonnes in 2015/16 season
• Zimbabwe has 8 months' supply of maize
• Government has secured an $85 million facility towards a Special Maize Production Programme targeting a 2 million tonne annual output
• External debt at $7,5 billion, with 80 percent being arrears. Total public debt at $9,6 billion
• GDP for 2016 forecast at 1,2 pct from the initial projection of 2.7 percent. A May Treasury report had revised the target to 1.4 percent
• Average rate of inflation seen at -0.4 percent in 2016, against -2.4 percent in 2015
• Revenue for 2016 seen at $3,755 bln, down from $3,85 billion
• Budget deficit reached $623.2 million in the first half of 2016, against a full-year projection of $150mln.
• Budget deficit seen at $1 billion at current expenditure levels
• Exports at $1.1 billion in H1 2016 v $1.2 billion H1 2015
• Imports at $2.5 billion in H1 2016 v $2.9 billion H1 2015
• Revenue at $1.692 billion in H1 2016, 9.8 percent below target
• Full-year 2016 revenue now projected at $3.755 billion, revised from $3.85 billion
• H1 2016 expenditure, at $2.32 billion, overshot budget by $308.4 million.