Economic saboteurs who cause chaos in the market and disrupt well-intentioned Government policies for personal gain would be dealt decisively, President Mnangagwa has said.
Writing in his weekly column, the last one for the year, in the Sunday Mail, the President said the economy’s recovery and growth were a result of the policy initiatives adopted by the Second Republic since coming into office in 2018.
“The year also revealed that indiscipline and selfishness in the market must be fought with all vigour, and without fear or favour. There will always be bad players in our midst who deviously seek to profit from crises they either create or find in the economy or in the world. Where we have so many exogenous shocks hitting us in unremitting succession, such bad players increase and threaten our economic recovery and growth. Bad apples will be removed
“Even measures and facilities meant to assist the economy, such as the introduction of local currency, or the foreign exchange auction system, are wilfully distorted and hijacked to create mayhem in the market.
“Such disruptions must be dealt with swiftly and decisively, so a clear message is sent to all players in the market that cutting corners or inventing them invites sure ruin. Going forward into the new year, Government will not hesitate to act whenever and wherever fair market rules are flouted,” President Mnangagwa said.
The RBZ has suspended over 20 entities from taking part in its weekly foreign currency auction system for abusing the facility while such noble programmes as Presidential Inputs Scheme have also been taken advantage by unscrupulous individuals.
Former Agriculture Deputy Minister, Douglas Karoro is before the courts for abusing the inputs for personal gain and has since been relieved of his duties.
The President also said the economy was now on a growth part as a result of Government policies implemented since 2018.
“The Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP) and its sequel, the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), have seen our economy lurching from recovery to growth,” he said.
“We are now on a sustained growth trajectory, whatever the frequent shocks we encounter along the way, whether these are endogenous or exogenous. What the year 2022 revealed and stressed was the importance of quick, creative policy responses to any such shocks.”
The TSP was adopted in 2018 as a two-year programme and outlined policies, strategies and projects that guided Zimbabwe’s social and economic development interventions simultaneously targeting immediate quick-wins and laying a robust base for economic growth for the period 2021-2030.
Its successor, the NDS1 (2021-2025) is aimed at realising the country’s Vision 2030 and its objectives include; strengthening macroeconomic stability, characterised by low and stable inflation, as well as exchange rate stability; achieve and sustain inclusive and equitable real GDP growth; promote new enterprise development, employment and job creation and strengthen social Infrastructure and social safety nets among others.
