Pricing by businesses using black-market exchange rates yet getting foreign currency at the auctions run by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is seeing prices rise unnecessarily and a danger of speculation dominating the economy, President Mnangagwa said yesterday.
Speaking during a meeting with the Presidential Advisory
Council (PAC) and business leaders in the Private Sector Forum yesterday, the
President said he was worried that people were being forced to panic-buy goods
and foreign currency at high premiums.
The meeting was a platform for Government, the private
sector and the PAC to look at the business environment in the country, and see
what was needed to accelerate growth and help the private sector create the new
wealth needed to fulfil the 2030 Vision.
“Of late, I have noted that the manufacturing of basic
commodities such as cooking oil and bread has been stable owing to Government’s
continued prioritisation of foreign currency allocation for the import of crude
soya bean oil and wheat.
“This has included medical drugs and other essential
products and services. However, the pricing of these commodities is getting
beyond the reach of the generality of our communities, as they are being pegged
against the parallel foreign currency exchange rate.
“We cannot have our economy being determined and dominated
by speculators,” he said.
So Government and business needed to intensify efforts to
bring the country back to normalcy.
President Mnangagwa said Government through the 2022
National Budget would deliberately continue prioritising and supporting local
manufacturers through supply side interventions.
In addition, the President said the National Budget had
come up with interventions that sought to cushion Zimbabweans to ensure access
to social protection.
Economic growth is required to create the wealth so
Zimbabweans enter an upper middle income society by 2030 and the President said
private sector-led economic growth was a key cog of Government’s strategies.
“As you are aware, our Vision (2030) will be attained
through the implementation of three development frameworks, namely: the
Transitional Stabilisation Plan 2018-2020; and two consecutive National
Development Strategies covering 2021-2025 and 2026-2030.
“This is a trajectory we must traverse together, with the
full participation of us all. It is upon this background that I found it
fitting that we meet as Government, the Presidential Advisory Council and
representative of business as represented by members of the Private Sector
Forum, to reaffirm our commitment to our national vision and shared course,” he
added.
The President said despite the challenges Zimbabweans had
faced, the nation had continued working together through the proactive and
complementary attitude and interventions by business, which deserved
commendation.
“My Government remains optimistic of a sustainable and
stable future socio-economic outlook, as we build back better.
“It is critical, however, that we strengthen our resolve to
work together through various forms of engagement and consultation to arrive at
shared and inclusive decisions.
“This was always my desire from the onset. Regrettably, the
Covid-19 pandemic placed us in an environment where we failed to meet.
“Following the national vaccination programme, Government
is now better placed to undertake stakeholder consultations at regular
intervals.
“This will enable us to collectively address challenges our
nation may face and also sharpen strategies for a more prosperous future.
“Sharing perspectives on platforms such as this one, will
indeed help attend to those lingering factors militating against the
achievement of our nation’s desired socio-economic goals,” said President
Mnangagwa.
He said Government was aware of the operational challenges
which needed to be addressed to move with the developmental agenda espoused in
the NDS-1, and had endeavoured to address most of these through the recently
delivered 2022 National Budget and the monetary policies.
Government was committed to improving the supply of
affordable power and energy as well as efficiencies at ports of entry while
focusing on attracting and retaining
investment.
“Efforts to plug leakages and dealing with the cancer of corruption
are also being scaled up. I have challenged my administration to come up with a
robust communication strategy for the achievements that we have so far
attained,” he said.
He wanted the private sector to take part in the
preparations for the country’s showcase of investment opportunities at the
World Economic Forum in January.
“Let me reiterate that in unity and common purpose, through
hard honest work and the right mindset, the enabling infrastructure as well as
the conducive business environment being created by my Government, along with a
progressive and patriotic private sector, Vision 2030 will be achieved, even
before the set timeframe.
“Zimbabwe is a giant and our time has come. Brick by brick,
stone upon stone we are indeed becoming a prosperous and empowered society,”
President Mnangagwa said.
Speaking after yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, Information,
Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the PAC and
the private sector commended the Government on its several achievements that
include economic growth, reduction of inflation, increased capacity utilisation
and improved infrastructure development among others.
Issues raised by the PAC and the private sector included
the need to deal with inflation caused by foreign exchange rate disparities and
agree on a roadmap to salvage economic gains among other issues.
“The private sector also acknowledged the Global
Compensation Agreement and noted that this would go a long way in guaranteeing
the real value for land.
They recommended that going forward land should become a
balance sheet item which people can borrow against, turning farming into a
business in the truest sense,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.
PAC members came out in their numbers yesterday, with
Pastor Shingi Munyeza who had missed a couple of sessions in the past, also
attending. Herald
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