News / National
Biti reveals why he 'hates' Mangudya
30 Jun 2019 at 09:24hrs | Views
FORMER Finance Minister Tendai Biti has admitted to undercutting the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe during his time in charge of the national purse.
Biti was Treasury boss between 2009 and 2013 when a Government of National Unity (GNU) was consummated by political foes, former President Robert Mugabe and MDC founding president, the late Morgan Tsvangirai.
Speaking at a panel discussion organised by the Southern African Political and Economic Series (Sapes) Trust Thursday, Biti argued the RBZ has been at the centre of distortions in the economy for the past two decades.
"If you look at the Zimbabwean crisis in the last 20 years, the Central Bank has been at the epicentre of the distortions. Some of you might not know that during the GNU we didn't have the central bank. Yes, it was there at number 180 Samora Machel (RBZ building) but in reality was not operational.
"Government accounts were kept at the CBZ who treated us like a commercial client. So, I couldn't run an overdraft facility because John Mangudya (now RBZ Governor) would say 'Minister you can't do that'," said Biti.
"Government accounts were only moved to Central Bank in April of 2014, but we survived, and we ran the economy well. The figures speak for themselves."
Biti was Treasury boss between 2009 and 2013 when a Government of National Unity (GNU) was consummated by political foes, former President Robert Mugabe and MDC founding president, the late Morgan Tsvangirai.
Speaking at a panel discussion organised by the Southern African Political and Economic Series (Sapes) Trust Thursday, Biti argued the RBZ has been at the centre of distortions in the economy for the past two decades.
"If you look at the Zimbabwean crisis in the last 20 years, the Central Bank has been at the epicentre of the distortions. Some of you might not know that during the GNU we didn't have the central bank. Yes, it was there at number 180 Samora Machel (RBZ building) but in reality was not operational.
"Government accounts were kept at the CBZ who treated us like a commercial client. So, I couldn't run an overdraft facility because John Mangudya (now RBZ Governor) would say 'Minister you can't do that'," said Biti.
"Government accounts were only moved to Central Bank in April of 2014, but we survived, and we ran the economy well. The figures speak for themselves."
Source - newzimbabwe.com
