The Sunday Mail
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Government will immediately work to normalise money supply and refrain from policy inconsistencies that have put off investors in the past.
The new administration will prioritise agriculture, job creation and investment in keeping with President Mnangagwa’s economic growth and development focus.
President Mnangagwa was sworn into office before tens of thousands of people at the National Sports Stadium in Harare on Friday, and in his inauguration speech he underscored economic take-off as uppermost on his Government’s agenda.
The President said, “In the immediate term, the liquidity challenges which have bedevilled the economy must be tackled head-on, with real solutions being generated as a matter of urgency. People must be able to access their earnings and savings as and when they need them.
“To this end, Government will ensure financial sector viability and stability as well as put in place measures that encourage savings through bank deposit and other appropriate financial instruments which bring fair rewards to depositors.
“The current banking culture where costs are levied on depositors must come to an end. It contradicts the reasons at the heart of banking as a business.”
President Mnangagwa said agriculture remained at the centre of the national economy.
“Our economic policy will be predicated on our agriculture, which is the mainstay, and on creating conditions for an investment-led economic recovery that puts premium on job-creation.”
The President said corruption would be dealt with expeditiously, with Government also taking aim at those behind foreign currency externalisation and smuggling.
“As we focus on recovering our economy, we must shed misbehaviours and acts of indiscipline which have characterised the past. Acts of corruption must stop forthwith.
“In addition, my Government will also pro-actively curb externalisation of foreign currency and smuggling of goods. The country’s border management and control systems will be strengthened.
“The bottom line is an economy which is back on its feet, and in which a variety of players make choices and fulfil roles without doubts and in an environment shorn of fickle policy shifts and unpredictability.
“Only that way can we recover this economy, create jobs for our youths and reduce poverty for all our people who must witness real, positive changes in their lives. On these ideals, my administration declares full commitment, warning that grief awaits those who depart from the path of virtue and clean business. To our civil servants, it cannot be business as usual. You now have to roll up your sleeves in readiness to deliver.”
President Mnangagwa said Government would embrace a system of economic organisation that incorporates elements of market economy “to yield a properly-run national economy in which there is room and scope for everyone”.
He also said: “Key choices will have to be made to attract foreign direct investment to tackle high levels of unemployment while transforming our economy towards the tertiary.
“The many skilled Zimbabweans who have left the country over the years for a variety of reasons must now come into the broad economic calculus designed for our recovery and take-off.”
The President assured investors that their interests would be safe in Zimbabwe, adding that authorities were committed to honouring the country’s debts and entering new relationships.
