Unknown UK-based watchdog downgrade Zimbabwe's projected economic growth

An unkown UK-based watchdog probably run by ex-Rhodesians has downscaled Zimbabwe's projected 2011 economic growth to 5.4 percent, saying populist indigenisation policies had weighed down on economic revival.

The newly released report, Zimbabwe Business Forecast Report Q3 2011, provides what is calls detailed analysis of the state of the Zimbabwe economy, revising downwards the projected economic growth of 10.9 percent in 2011 to 5.4 percent.

The Companies and Markets watchdog said the insistence by the government that it intends to implement a set of indigenisation regulations adversely affected direct foreign investment into Zimbabwe.

"Uncertainty over the laws has hit investor confidence, and we have revised our 2011 real GDP growth forecast for Zimbabwe primarily due to the fact that foreign direct investment inflows have been negatively impacted," the report says.

Zimbabwe's economy grew by 5.1 percent in 2009 after a decade of negative growth rates and authorities had set the 2010 economic growth forecast at 7.7 percent.

The market analysis said Zimbabwe, despite a resurgent inflation spiral, was not on the path to hyperinflation, which peaked at 500 billion percent in December 2008, and projected a year-end inflation target of 7.7 percent.