Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe economy dampens holiday spirit

As public patience wears thin, opposition parties have used the economic meltdown to attack the ZANU–PF

21 April 2019 - 00:00 By RAY NDLOVU

A downpour put a dampener on independence festivities on Thursday but President Emmerson Mnangagwa's administration is facing much heavier weather in its attempts to revive the economy.
As public patience wears thin 18 months after Mnangagwa replaced Robert Mugabe, opposition parties have used the economic meltdown to attack the government.
"Many of our comrades are queueing the day away for 5l of fuel because that is all that they can afford," said National Patriotic Front spokesperson Jealousy Mawarire.
"Most ... are also pondering where their children's next meal will come from, on account of the skyrocketing prices of basic commodities."
A bread price hike of 59% this week is the latest in a series of increases that have characterised the economic turmoil. It came on top of sharp increases in two other staples - fuel and mealie meal - so far this year.
A senior government official, Monica Mutsvangwa, admitted the bread price hike "dampened the mood" ahead of independence celebrations and Easter.
After January's 150% fuel price increase, a three-day stayaway was called and violent street protests broke out.
In his Independence Day speech, Mnangagwa blamed businesses for price increases. "Government is alarmed by the recent wanton and indiscriminate increases of prices, which has brought untold suffering to the people," he said.
"This conduct by stakeholders in business, industry and commerce is inhumane, unethical, unpatriotic and goes against the grain of economic dialogue, which the second republic has espoused."
But in an interview with the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corp on Wednesday, Mnangagwa said he did not want to impose price controls on businesses and favoured an open market system.
The International Monetary Fund expects the economy to contract by 5.2% this year in the first recession since GDP plummeted 16.5% in 2008. Inflation is at 66.8%, according to the national statistical agency.
Worryingly for the government, there are few signs of foreign investors entering the country. Currency volatility and sanctions imposed by Western governments are widely seen as key deterrents...

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