Mid-term statement fails to lift optimism

16

ALTHOUGH business is happier with Finance minister Mthuli Ncube’s “more realistic economic targets” that he announced in his mid-term budget statement last week, it wants authorities to do more to boost investor confidence and the country’s economy.
This comes after Ncube reviewed downwards the country’s projected gross domestic product (GDP) for this year — from 5,5 percent to 4,6 percent — blaming a poor agricultural season, the volatility of the local currency and Zimbabwe’s high inflation for this.

Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president, Kurai Matsheza, told The Financial Gazette this week that while the government’s new targets were closer to “the reality on the ground”, among the major worries now was business confidence.