Two grown men teamed up to accelerate and exacerbate the
already unpalatable suffering of the Zimbabwean people.
Zimbabweans who have lost all but hope tuned into different
media platforms expecting relief only to get a kick in the teeth.
The MDC is disappointed but surprised by the so-called
measures by both Mangudya and Mthuli Ncube. They border on sheer arrogance,
narrow selfish interests and utter ignorance of how to turn around the status
quo.
Yesterday Zanu PF sharpened the robber state. A shameless
announcement of raft meant to pick-pocket the poor in a bid to fund the
lifestyles of the political elites. Firstly the charges announced yesterday on
electronic transactions in an attempt to create fiscal legroom for treasury are
just but day light robbery.
They are an encouragement for creative transactions and
fuel for black market.The citizens will just reject spheres accessible to the
state and reorganize themselves in autonomous spaces dealing a serious blow on
revenue collection.
Secondly Zanu PF can't be the one to punish electronic
transactions when they have been celebrating a cashless economy. As a matter of
fact notes and coins contribute a paltry 2% of broad money supply as per
official statistics from both the Treasury and the RBZ. More importantly this
is a war being declared on a particular class of Zimbabwe, the working people.
In the monetary policy statement, it is clear that only the
working people are going to lose value. The “know your client” principle
referred will affect mostly the poor who have not earned value from
international sources in a long time.
Then comes the insanity around foreigners paying for
services in forex, this is an unenforceable insanity. The gentlemen are probably
intoxicated by a high grade of Indian hemp so potent that it needs to be
protected by a patent.
This creates a whole lot of problems including the
introduction of middlemen in purchases of basic goods.
We have always stated that the bond note must be repealed,
that would be the end of story. The move to create two types of accounts
borders on illegality, such acts must never happen in a democratic society.
The government is introducing a new currency through the
back door in violation of the RBZ Act with all its flaws.
The government has demonstrated capacity to raid accounts
whenever they are desperate, they will at some point raid the NOSTRO accounts.
As of now even by Ncube’s confirmation RBZ net claims
against the government have exceeded the legislated limit by more than 300%.
Ncube even states that the government will not stop issuing
toxic treasury bills, he instead modifies them and tries to bring in an auction
element which will not curtail government spending.
These so-called measures are half baked, we therefore
restate the following suggestions we made in our SMART policy document.
i. Fiscal consolidation by, inter alia, pursuing of a
primary balance and restoration of balanced budgeting.
ii. Rationalisation of expenditure and improving the
expenditure mix.
iii. Building capacity on revenue management and
strengthening public finance management systems.
iv. Taking measures to reduce debt and improving debt
management to reduce the risk of inflationary pressures, crowding out of
private sector activity and exacerbation of liquidity shortages.
v. Expediting State Owned Enterprise (SOE) Reform.
vi. Rationalisation of the public service and elimination
of ghost workers to reduce employment cost to 30% of total expenditure.
vii. Expansion of the revenue base through increased
productivity, and expansion of the economy.
viii. Immediate resolution of the cash crisis by addressing
confidence issues, scrapping the bond note, strengthening the multiple currency
regime.
ix. Central Bank reform including auditing of its assets
and liabilities.
x. Export promotion, narrowing the current account and
rationalising the capital account. Accelerate “ease of doing business” reforms
and promote policy coherence and consistency.
xi. Commencement of urgent debt resolution and
re-engagement processes.
xii. Plugging the loopholes in the commodity sectors by,
inter alia, enacting of a new Diamond law and a new Minerals and Mining Act,
immediately subscribing to the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative
(EITI) and consolidating Zimbabwe’s position in the Kimberly Process
Certification Scheme.
xiii. Bolstering social protection and immediate
rehabilitation of all social infrastructure including health, education, people
living with disabilities, vulnerable communities, women and children.
xiv. Taking measures to protect private property rights
including strengthening and executing BIPPAs, re-joining Multilateral
Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and provision of title to occupiers of land.
The review and revisiting of investment agreements, mining grants and any
disposals of Zimbabwe’s assets.
xv. Convening the second Zimbabwe Conference on
Reconstruction and Development. Given the huge development trap that Zimbabwe
finds itself in, the MDC Alliance government will within its first year
organize a conference on reconstruction and new development.
These are the measures that will arrest ballooning deficits
which are being funded through toxic means creating both a cash shortage and
crowding out the private sector.
These measures will also increase productivity while
expanding the tax base without overburdening the working masses of Zimbabwe.
The MDC will deliver a full response to both the fiscal
measures and the monetary policy offering tangible solutions including currency
reforms in line with our SMART document.
Jacob Mafume
MDC National Spokesperson
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