‘Zimbabwe could lose US$6 billion dollars in two years’

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ZIMBABWE could lose a staggering US$6 billion within two years if the economy suffers a double-whammy of Finance minister Mthuli Ncube’s projected 20 percent fall in addition to 2019’s minus-seven percent shrinkage, top economist Victor Bhoroma says.

This comes as the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries has said capacity utilisation is to end the year at below 40 percent and the Treasury chief has revealed in an SOS letter to donor agencies that the country was also facing a US$1 billion-plus social services funding gap. “Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown are having a devastating effect on the fragile local economy where hopes of a recovery have quickly vanished,” Bhoroma said, adding Ncube’s recent admissions meant the Harare administration had a tough task in its efforts to resuscitate the economy. “If this were to happen … the local economy would have shed more than US$6 billion within two years,” he added.