FINANCE Secretary, George Guvamatanga has maintained that Zimbabwe’s economy cannot be described as fragile because of the ongoing implementation of a raft of measures to resuscitate the economy.
Guavamatanga told journalists at the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) senior policy Seminar in Harare, Thursday, hat the embattled Southern African nation’s economy is on the rebound.
“The country has been in a transition since 2017 and this transition was formalised in October 2018 by an economic blueprint which is the Transitional Stabilisation Program (TSP) and the actions outlined therein are being implemented at a very fast pace,” he said.
He was responding to questions whether Zimbabwe could be classified as fragile.
The Finance secretary said that government is currently moving towards a broad agenda with monthly policies being implemented to transform various sectors of the economy.
“You will have to agree as well that the volatility and instability that we have witnessed over the past four to five years it is always good to have evidence based policies.
“The TSP has well researched policies and you will find that some of the reforms we have taken are consistency with AERC,” he said.
The remarks come at a time when Zimbabwe has been ranked among the worst countries in terms of the ease of doing business. Organisations such as Transparency International have also ranked the country as one of the most corrupt nations in the world.
AERC chief executive, Njuguna Ndung’u had earlier hinted that corruption on the continent is one of the factors contributing to the fragility of economies.
“Corruption is an indicator of institutional failure problem because institutions must provide the rules of the game and the legal framework.
“They must also provide real incentives which do not include rewards but the penalty for doing the wrong thing. When you see corruption that is a signal of failed institutions and as such even policies fail,” Ndung’u said.
Economist Persistence Gwanyanya said while it is complicated to conclude that the nation’s economy is fragile, it is a fact that reforms being implemented currently are coming in to address and provide solutions to certain fragilities that have affected the economy.
“What I can say is that the country’s economy is not in good shape because we are experiencing fiscal imbalances, lack of investment and de-industrialisation.
“All the efforts currently being implemented are coming in to address fragilities in the economy,” Gwanyanya said.
