News / National
Zimbabweans suffer from 'import mania' says Chinamasa
06 Aug 2014 at 16:50hrs | Views
The problem of Zimbabwe's ballooning trade imbalance is being exacerbated by businessmen who are importing goods that can be manufactured locally thus rendering the industry inefficient, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamsa has said.
Speaking at the Buy Zimbabwe Public Procurement conference, Minister Chinamasa said Zimbabweans are importing goods such as bottled water, soap, sugar, cooking oil, cell phones and vehicle parts among other things.
"Our import bill is unsustainably high, with a current account deficit for the first half of the year at US$1,7 billion. The nature of the imports is worrying, we are importing consumptive products that account for at least 70 percent of our import bill. When you are always eating, eating, eating and not saving for your house or to buy a bike, that is 'import mania'.
"You are crazy, it's always difficult to counteract craziness on a national scale. It means you are not thinking about tomorrow, about your children because you are eating everything.
"Why are we destroying our country and then look to other countries for imports, let alone blame lack of capacity to do things that we have capacity to do? I am reluctant to intervene legislatively all the time. Generally, I always want to take considered steps.
We should never get to a point where we have to legislate to stop imports of water when we have Tingamira, Schweppes and a host of water bottling companies," he said.
He said as long Zimbabwe remains a net exporter of raw materials, the country will always be poor as it transfers its skills and wealth to other countries.
Minister Chinamasa also said Government would prioritise investment in infrastructure, especially power generation.
"And our priority is power. As long as we continue to have load shedding it becomes difficult to attract foreign direct investment and to keep you in business if you have interrupted supply. But we must know that it is not an overnight thing. At the end of the day we have to make sure we have enough power supply for our industries," he said.
The country currently has an energy deficit averaging 600 megawatts (MW) due to obsolete machinery and limited investment in the energy sector.
However, expansion works which commenced this year at Kariba South Power Station are expected to be completed in 2017, adding 300MW to the national grid.
Speaking at the Buy Zimbabwe Public Procurement conference, Minister Chinamasa said Zimbabweans are importing goods such as bottled water, soap, sugar, cooking oil, cell phones and vehicle parts among other things.
"Our import bill is unsustainably high, with a current account deficit for the first half of the year at US$1,7 billion. The nature of the imports is worrying, we are importing consumptive products that account for at least 70 percent of our import bill. When you are always eating, eating, eating and not saving for your house or to buy a bike, that is 'import mania'.
"You are crazy, it's always difficult to counteract craziness on a national scale. It means you are not thinking about tomorrow, about your children because you are eating everything.
"Why are we destroying our country and then look to other countries for imports, let alone blame lack of capacity to do things that we have capacity to do? I am reluctant to intervene legislatively all the time. Generally, I always want to take considered steps.
We should never get to a point where we have to legislate to stop imports of water when we have Tingamira, Schweppes and a host of water bottling companies," he said.
He said as long Zimbabwe remains a net exporter of raw materials, the country will always be poor as it transfers its skills and wealth to other countries.
Minister Chinamasa also said Government would prioritise investment in infrastructure, especially power generation.
"And our priority is power. As long as we continue to have load shedding it becomes difficult to attract foreign direct investment and to keep you in business if you have interrupted supply. But we must know that it is not an overnight thing. At the end of the day we have to make sure we have enough power supply for our industries," he said.
The country currently has an energy deficit averaging 600 megawatts (MW) due to obsolete machinery and limited investment in the energy sector.
However, expansion works which commenced this year at Kariba South Power Station are expected to be completed in 2017, adding 300MW to the national grid.
Source - BH24
