FORMER Finance minister and Harare East legislator Tendai
Biti says Zimbabwe needs to reintroduce the multi-currency regime, seek debt
cancellation and liberalise the fuel industry, among other interventions, to
get the economy ticking again.
In an interview, Biti also said a political solution is key
to addressing Zimbabwe’s economic crisis and resolving the crisis of legitimacy
emanating from last year’s general elections.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa beat MDC Alliance president
Nelson Chamisa by a wafer thin margin although the MDC insists the elections
were rigged.
“We can easily do that (solve the legitimacy crisis)
through dialogue between Nelson Chamisa and Mr Mnangagwa,” Biti said.“We need
to establish a national transition mechanism as a matter of urgency.”
Biti also said government should repeal Statutory
Instrument 142/19 with immediate effect, and the government should go back to
the regime of multiple currency even with the local currency working as a
medium of exchange and the exchange rate will find equilibrium.
“We need to restore the multiple currency in particular the
US dollar and the rand as the legitimate legal tender in Zimbabwe,” he said.The
government, Biti said, should amend the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act to stop
the RBZ from printing money as the solution to cash crisis.
“We need to protect the economy against the excesses and
the rock behaviour of the central bank” Biti said.“We need to ban the export
surrender requirements as a matter of urgency to avoid government taking
people’s money in the name of export surrender requirements.
“We also need to liberalise the fuel market so that anyone
with free funds should be able to import fuel to ensure availability of fuel at
a cheap and affordable price.”
Biti said the government should ring-fence pensions and
savings in US dollar terms to avoid devaluation of pensions and savings.The
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority, he said, should be allowed to levy its
charges in US dollars. This will enable the parastatal to import the required
400 megawatts of electricity.
Biti believes the government should get rid of command
agriculture and introduce incentives to the farming sector.
“Every farmer must have a title deed, the banking sector
must mobilise resources to finance agriculture,” Biti said.The MDC
vice-president said government should also weed out “the more than 400 thousand
ghost workers” from the civil service to reduce the government wage bill.
On the 2% tax on electronic transfers, Biti said it must be
lifted with immediate effect while reducing corporate tax. He said government
should introduce flat tax across the board of 15% provided the country adopts
the use of multi-currency as legitimate legal tender in Zimbabwe.
“We have to invest in our infrastructure and this needs
about US$20 billion, but to do this we should first solve the current Zimbabwe
debt structure,” Biti said.
“We have to negotiate with the World Bank with the
international community and this requires a government that is respected by the
international community but Zanu is not respected.”
Biti said the government should find ways to negotiate with
the US and the Paris Club of creditors before seeking debt cancellation on the
quid pro quo for sound economic behaviour. “Zimbabwe’s debt should be
cancelled,” he said. Zimbabwe Independent
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