Mugabe will not approve job cuts, says Jonathan Moyo

Higher Education minister Jonathan Moyo has suggested that President Robert Mugabe who chairs  Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by would not have approved far-reaching measures proposed by Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa.

The government rejected Treasury plans to reduce spending through job cuts and suspension of bonuses.

According to a micro blogging site twitter feed,  Martin Takawira  asked former finance minister Tendai Biti  to share his  experience on government dealings.

"Tendai  - from your experience how do u explain this minister presenting something rejected by cabinet?" asked Takawira.

Biti said "They are hanging him to dry.Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs which Mugabe chairs would have approved this".

Moyo jumped in to say "Kwete. There's no way those kind of measures would have been presented, let alone approved, in that forum!

Last week, Chinamasa said his proposals would save the government at least $355 million over the next two years, a significant amount that's nearly 10 percent of projected 2016 government revenue.

Mugabe's government has, over the past three months, faced a series of protests over a growing economic crisis marked by bank note shortages, widespread hunger after another failed farming season as well as job losses and rising poverty.

In July, grassroots protest movements took advantage of a government strike over unpaid salaries to stage the biggest boycott against Mugabe's rule in a decade.

The government has been struggling to pay its employees, estimated at 500,000 including security forces, on time.