Culture

AFDB SAYS ZIMBABWE’S ECONOMIC REVIVAL DEPENDS ON POLICY IMPLEMENTATION, RE-ENGAGEMENT

Web DeskComments Off on AFDB SAYS ZIMBABWE’S ECONOMIC REVIVAL DEPENDS ON POLICY IMPLEMENTATION, RE-ENGAGEMENT

HARARE� The African Development Bank (AfDB) says Zimbabwe may achieve higher than projected growth this year on the back of positive sentiment following the change of administration in the country, aided by support from the country's creditors.

The continental bank had earlier projected a growth rate of 1.0 per cent for the economy in 2018 and 1.2 per cent in 2019. However, the installation of a new government late last year, plus the positive sentiment coming with it and pronouncement of a reformist budget and re-engagement with the international community could yet boost the country's growth prospects, the AfDB says in its Southern Africa Economic Outlook for 2018.

The budget presented to Parliament offered glimmers of hope to investors on prospects of new reforms, especially on minimal investment thresholds for external investors. But the economy is still experiencing

financial constraints, and debt remains high, with accumulated arrears, it said.

So, real GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth is projected to remain weak at one percent in 2018, with a marginal gain of 0.2 percentage point the following year. This projection could be reversed however, depending on the outcome of the budget pronouncements and the country's re-engagement with the international community, especially its creditors.

The Zimbabwean government has forecast economic growth projection for 2018 at 4.5 per cent.

The southern Africa sub-region is expected to grow by 2.0 per cent this year, up from 1.6 per cent in 2017 and by 2.4 per cent in 2019. The AfDB said high fiscal deficits in the sub-region were impeding on growth.

Governments should put in place measures to improve the mobilization of domestic resources and funds from the private sector to ensure adequate levels of development spending, stimulate growth and create

jobs, especially for young people," said Stefan Muller, AfDB senior economist for Southern Africa.

The sub-region's fiscal deficit is estimated to have widened to 5.0 per cent of GDP in 2017, with Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Swaziland having rates of above 7.0 per cent of GDP, with the norm set at 3.0 per cent.

Only Botswana and Lesotho returned to surplus, estimated at 0.3 per cent and 0.1 per cent of GDP.

The AfDB said Zimbabwe and other low income countries in the region such as Malawi and Madagascar should take measures to improve their low tax-to-GDP ratios through, among others, broadening the tax base by formalizing informal businesses as well as reforming and strengthening tax administrations and tax inspections to ensure tax compliance.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Web Desk

Related Articles
Culture

Tax Authority Warns it Will Name Corrupt South Sudan Officials

Web Desk

The South Sudan National Revenue Authority is threatening to publicly shame government and bank officials who steal tax revenue.The Authority said it collected more than $9 million in February 2019 compared to $4.7 million dollars the month before, but…
Culture

Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe: From Liberator to Oppressor

Web Desk

Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe was feted as an African liberation hero and champion of racial reconciliation when he first came to power in a nation divided by nearly a century of white colonial rule.Nearly four decades later, many at home and abroad denounc…
Culture

What’s Next for South Africa’s Embattled Zuma? Court, Probably

Web Desk

South African President Jacob Zuma is likely to end his presidency the same way he started it: mired in corruption charges.

In 2009, just two weeks before Zuma led the African National Congress to victory at the polls, the National Prosecuting Authority dropped an eight-year-old corruption case against him. Politically, however, that case never went away: The opposition vowed not to let the matter drop, and has since used it to illustrate its lack of faith in the president through eight no-confidence votes in relation to his alleged corrupt acts before and during his presidency.

The ANC’s parliamentary majority has allowed him to survive each of those votes, but the latest one, in August, gave him a lean margin of 198 to 177.

Since Zuma was replaced as head of the ruling party in December, the ANC has turned against him, and a looming no-confidence vote scheduled for February 22 may succeed � if the ANC leadership doesn’t convince him to step down first.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who took over as party leader when Zuma’s term expired, this week met privately with Zuma after a series of high-level party meetings that did not produce Zuma’s resignation.

“This is a challenging time for our country,” Ramaphosa said in a statement this week, after the nation’s parliament took the surprising and unprecedented step of postponing the annual State of the Nation address, originally scheduled for Thursday. “Both President Zuma and myself are aware that our people want and deserve closure.”

His day in court

Whenever he does leave office, the outgoing president is unlikely to enjoy a quiet retirement.

In recent months, the charges that were dropped nine years ago have threatened to resurface. Last year, the nation’s Supreme Court upheld a High Court decision to reinstate the charges, which include 783 counts of corruption over a $2 billion arms deal in the late 1990s.

The national director of public prosecutions, Shaun Abrahams � long seen as a close Zuma ally � now has to decide whether to reinstate the charges. Separately, Zuma faces an investigation into his actions with a powerful Indian family that is accused of unduly influencing South Africa’s government.

And so, says analyst Daniel Silke, director of the Political Futures consultancy, Zuma’s future looks cloudy.

“The future for President Zuma is indeed going to be rocky,” he told VOA from Cape Town. “It’s highly unlikely that he’ll be able to strike any sort of deal which will prevent the legal process from attacking him. … This is going to be an expensive business for Jacob Zuma and, of course, the investigations going forward in the courts could potentially uncover even more wrongdoings, or alleged wrongdoings from the president.”

‘The sooner the better’

But that, Zuma’s detractors say, is not the only reason to remove him. South Africa faces general elections in 2019, when Zuma’s second term is scheduled to end. In recent municipal and national elections, the ruling party has steadily lost ground as Zuma’s popularity has fallen.

In 2016 municipal polls, the party lost control of three major metropolitan areas. With just over a year before the national elections, ANC leaders are aware they need to act fast to keep voters backing the party that has, for so long, dominated national politics.

“We were saying to President Zuma on Sunday that we don’t want two centers of power; we want President Ramaphosa to take control not only of the ANCS but [also] the affairs of the state,” ANC treasurer general Paul Mashatile told investors earlier this week at an annual mining industry gathering in Cape Town.

“Our view as the leadership of the ANC is that the sooner the president of the republic steps down for the new leadership to take overS the better because then you have certainty of policyS of direction there will be no confusion,” he said.

Source: Voice of America