Opinion / Columnist
Govt must implement economic reforms
21 Mar 2022 at 02:39hrs | Views
IN 2017, Finance and Economic Development minister Mthuli Ncube, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya and the Zanu-PF government lied to the people, saying the bond note was at par with the United States dollar.
Prior to that, we were told that bond notes were meant to incentivise exports. A few months down the line, they changed the song.
Ncube shocked the world when he said bond notes were in fact the country's currency.
We were told Zimbabwe could not be competitive on the international market without its own currency.
We were also told that economic fundamentals were in place for the introduction of the local currency.
Some of us advised the minister to exercise caution before introducing the Zimdollar, which people had lost confidence in during the hyperinflationary period in 2008. People lost savings and pensions when the government declared that the fiat money was at par with the US dollar.
The exchange rate has since spiralled out of control and so is inflation. The wheels of the economy are coming off.
Ncube and Mangudya must be held responsible for all economic blunders. To have a strong currency, government should make sure industrial production increases. It should also address the issue of multiple farm ownership and non-productive farms.
Zimbabwe's economy is anchored on agriculture so everything should be done to boost production in that sector.
Martin Luther King Jnr remarked that nothing in this world was more dangerous than "sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity". This attitude of going all over the world with a big begging bowel has to stop now; it has since cost the nation.
We might talk of mega deals and foreign direct investment, but as long as the ordinary man is still roaming the streets with nothing to do, we have not achieved anything. Now, everyone knows that luring investors is not a stroll in the park in Zimbabwe.
As ordinary citizens, for how long are we going to be patient given that many of us are now close to a decade without employment?
Prior to that, we were told that bond notes were meant to incentivise exports. A few months down the line, they changed the song.
Ncube shocked the world when he said bond notes were in fact the country's currency.
We were told Zimbabwe could not be competitive on the international market without its own currency.
We were also told that economic fundamentals were in place for the introduction of the local currency.
Some of us advised the minister to exercise caution before introducing the Zimdollar, which people had lost confidence in during the hyperinflationary period in 2008. People lost savings and pensions when the government declared that the fiat money was at par with the US dollar.
The exchange rate has since spiralled out of control and so is inflation. The wheels of the economy are coming off.
Ncube and Mangudya must be held responsible for all economic blunders. To have a strong currency, government should make sure industrial production increases. It should also address the issue of multiple farm ownership and non-productive farms.
Zimbabwe's economy is anchored on agriculture so everything should be done to boost production in that sector.
Martin Luther King Jnr remarked that nothing in this world was more dangerous than "sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity". This attitude of going all over the world with a big begging bowel has to stop now; it has since cost the nation.
We might talk of mega deals and foreign direct investment, but as long as the ordinary man is still roaming the streets with nothing to do, we have not achieved anything. Now, everyone knows that luring investors is not a stroll in the park in Zimbabwe.
As ordinary citizens, for how long are we going to be patient given that many of us are now close to a decade without employment?
Source - NewsDay Zimbabwe
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