Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube on Wednesday dismissed claims that his economic policies were inconsistent, saying his austerity measures were simply “reforms”.
Ncube made the remarks while speaking during a virtual briefing on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFSE). He said:
All we are doing are reforms. When you reform something, you change it and might even change it again, it is called reforms, so it is not policy inconsistency if I can work hard to disabuse you of that notion that there are policy inconsistencies.
Ncube said that the Zimbabwe dollar is stable right now through policy consistency and in fact, the country managed to launch a new currency without the balance of payments support. He said:
We have done that on our own and it’s remarkable indeed and the monetary policy committee helps manage that. So it is not policy inconsistency, it is actually reforms and those reforms have been very successful.
However, in April Ncube admitted to “policy missteps during late 2019” in his letter begging for a bailout package from international monetary institutions.
The reintroduction of the Zimbabwe dollar plunged the country into hyperinflation with the annual inflation rate standing at 761,02% as of last month, the second-highest in the world after Venezuela.
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