Zimbabwe’s export earnings declined by 2 percent year-on-year to about 1.53 billion U.S. dollars in the first five months, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said Thursday.
In the same period, total foreign currency inflows amounted to about 2.35 billion dollars, against an import bill of 1.55 billion dollars, he said.
Presenting the 2020 mid-term budget and economic review statement to the parliament, Ncube said imports declined by 4 percent from a year ago, with the trade balance improved.
“Overall, the current account is projected to remain in surplus in 2020 at 1.2 billion dollars mainly driven by secondary income and goods account,” the minister said.
He said the country recorded a budget surplus of 800 million Zimbabwe dollars (11.7 million dollars) in the first half of the year.
The African country’s public and publicly guaranteed external debt stood at 8.094 billion Zimbabwe dollars (119 million dollars), while domestic debt stood at 12.89 billion Zimbabwe dollars (189.6 million dollars) by June, according to the minister.
Ncube said annual inflation was resurging, although it was expected to gradually decline in the second half of 2020, from a peak of 785.5 percent in May to 300 percent in December on account of monetary and fiscal policy interventions being implemented by the government.
