News / National
Mthuli Ncube to prioritise Zimdollar stability
12 Nov 2023 at 11:43hrs | Views
FURTHER stabilising the Zimbabwe dollar and consolidating economic growth will be prioritised in the 2024 budget, Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube has said.
He told our Harare bureau that the $44 trillion budget, which will be presented later this month, will anchor the next phase of Government's reform programme - the National Development Strategy 1.
"The budget is running under the theme of consolidating economic transformation. The economy has gone through considerable transformation over the last five years. So, under this budget of about $44 trillion, we want to target specific areas. The first area is stability; the budget must speak to stability, such as currency stability, which we need in order to develop. The second is infrastructure development, right across water infrastructure, roads, energy and particularly rail infrastructure. In this budget, we will allocate funds for the resuscitation of rail infrastructure." Funds will also be appropriated for value addition in mining and agriculture.
"That is the only way we can grow as a country and for our economy to create more jobs and realise high tax revenues going forward."
As a starting point, he said, Government has already outlawed export of unprocessed lithium.
"We now want to move to the next stage, as we move towards local battery manufacturing."
Government is also targeting mechanising the agriculture sector, especially smallholder farmers, to enhance production and productivity.
"In agriculture, we are already food-secure as a nation; we want to invest more in that sector to make sure that food security at household level is maintained. Households can even earn more by selling their surplus. So, mechanisation of the Pfumvudza/Intwasa is critical . . . you can think of those hand-held tractors and feeders and so forth - that is the kind of equipment we are talking of."
Government, he added, will continue to invest in the development of water bodies, while a programme to desilt water reservoirs will commence next year.
"The budget must maintain the right incentives . . . tax incentives to support manufacturing so that we can continue with the retooling that we are seeing . . . whether it's support through the (forex) auction, tax rebates, but retooling has taken place, as you can see that 80 percent of the goods on the supermarket shelves are locally made. The sector is making progress."
Further, there will be incentives to add impetus to the ongoing post-Covid-19 recovery of the tourism sector, while funding for both the health and education sectors will be similarly prioritised. Government, for example, plans to recruit an additional 5 000 teachers for public schools next year. The welfare of public sector workers, as well as security forces and legislators, will also come into focus.
He told our Harare bureau that the $44 trillion budget, which will be presented later this month, will anchor the next phase of Government's reform programme - the National Development Strategy 1.
"The budget is running under the theme of consolidating economic transformation. The economy has gone through considerable transformation over the last five years. So, under this budget of about $44 trillion, we want to target specific areas. The first area is stability; the budget must speak to stability, such as currency stability, which we need in order to develop. The second is infrastructure development, right across water infrastructure, roads, energy and particularly rail infrastructure. In this budget, we will allocate funds for the resuscitation of rail infrastructure." Funds will also be appropriated for value addition in mining and agriculture.
"That is the only way we can grow as a country and for our economy to create more jobs and realise high tax revenues going forward."
As a starting point, he said, Government has already outlawed export of unprocessed lithium.
"We now want to move to the next stage, as we move towards local battery manufacturing."
Government is also targeting mechanising the agriculture sector, especially smallholder farmers, to enhance production and productivity.
"In agriculture, we are already food-secure as a nation; we want to invest more in that sector to make sure that food security at household level is maintained. Households can even earn more by selling their surplus. So, mechanisation of the Pfumvudza/Intwasa is critical . . . you can think of those hand-held tractors and feeders and so forth - that is the kind of equipment we are talking of."
Government, he added, will continue to invest in the development of water bodies, while a programme to desilt water reservoirs will commence next year.
"The budget must maintain the right incentives . . . tax incentives to support manufacturing so that we can continue with the retooling that we are seeing . . . whether it's support through the (forex) auction, tax rebates, but retooling has taken place, as you can see that 80 percent of the goods on the supermarket shelves are locally made. The sector is making progress."
Further, there will be incentives to add impetus to the ongoing post-Covid-19 recovery of the tourism sector, while funding for both the health and education sectors will be similarly prioritised. Government, for example, plans to recruit an additional 5 000 teachers for public schools next year. The welfare of public sector workers, as well as security forces and legislators, will also come into focus.
Source - sundaymail
