President Mnangagwa assures Zimbabweans

Harare (New Ziana) –President Emerson Mnangagwa on Saturday expressed optimism that Zimbabwe’s economy would bounce back from the Covid-19 induced slumber next year as efforts to rebuild the economy continue.

Zimbabwe has been under different levels of Covid-19 lockdown since March, resulting in depressed economic activity.

“Despite the crippling impact of the pandemic we are rebuilding our country. Zimbabwe’s economy will recover, stabilise and grow,” President Mnangagwa tweeted.

On Friday, Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said Zimbabwe’s economy was expected to grow by 7.4 percent next year, recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic that hit major economic sectors this year.

He said the recovery, from an anticipated contraction of 4.5 percent this year, would be driven by improved consumption and investments.

“The recovery in consumption is mainly anchored on expected stabilisation of inflation through ongoing policy interventions which should aid restoration of purchasing power of consumers,” Ncube said.

The country’s Gross Domestic Product is expected to grow by 5.5 percent in 2022 and 5.2 percent in 2023.

On the other hand, inflation is expected to drop to as low as 143 percent by year-end, Ncube said.
“The slowdown in inflation will be attributed to deepening of the foreign currency auction market which is expected to sustain exchange rate stability,” he said.

At the end of September, inflation stood at 659.40 having dropped 101 percentage points from the previous month.

Inflation peaked at 785 percent in May but has gradually slowed down since the government introduced the foreign currency auction system at the end of June.
New Ziana