Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa has won plaudits for his pro-business budget. Many believe that the spending plan will “woo” international investors and get the country’s economy going again.
As soon as Chinamasa started speaking he broke from the past – undoing a number of policies of previous President Robert Mugabe’s and declaring a new economic order.
“[From] the minister’s body language you could tell that he was basically saying that there is [a] new boss in town. A new boss who is younger who is progressive and I hope that what he has said will be shown in implementation,” James Maridadi, a member of parliament, told CGTN’s Farai Mwakutuya.
The 5.1 billion budget has generated optimism in a nation that had come to view the annual announcements as a mere routine.
“The document is fantastic, the minister’s intentions are noble, and you cannot fault him,” said Busisa Moyo, Ex-President of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries.
“Issues like indeginisation [are] tackled, issues of austerity all in there. He’s put in there to say let’s cut government spending, let’s create fiscal space so that we can spend on developmental projects. Let’s re-engage the international community.”
Despite fears it might widen a deficit, Chinamasa plans to spend 15% of GDP on capital projects.
“The minister, in his own words, said that it’s not about deficit, it’s what the deficit is for. I think clearly recurrent expenditure driven deficit is definitely a problem because it’s consumptive, but you can run a deficit to run a massive project to create employment to develop [the] agricultural sector because there are rents you earn going into the future,” Moyo added.
Chinamasa has promised policy clarity, consistency and predictability.
It’s a welcome change, one that says to the world Zimbabwe is open to trade and that’s got everyone here feeling that Zimbabwe is back in business.
