Zimbabwean News You Can Trust
Top economist, Dr. Michael Pasara, Tuesday heaped praise on the ZiG currency, stressing it has managed to bring economic stability to the market since its launch four months ago by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor John Mushayavanhu.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust (SAPST), two day convention dialogues held in Harare on Budget Strategy Paper (BSP) for the 2025 budget, Pasara said, the gold backed ZiG currency has reduced inflation and brought stability to the economy.
The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) lecturer urged citizens to support and trust the new currency, to avoid its erosion due to inflationary pressures like what happened to the bond note, and other previous local currencies.
“If you look at June month to month inflation up to date, it’s actually negative. Year on year inflation has been below 3.5% and below since ZiG was launched, so it’s the same. Additionally, citizens must also work with policy makers, because the value of a currency depends upon trust,” he said.
However, despite Pasara’s comments, former Finance Minister Tendai Biti recently told a local publication that the introduction of ZiG was a “complete disaster,” because in 2019 they argued that due to the current economic status, the country was not yet ready to have its own currency.
He further blamed the Minister of Finance, Mthuli Ncube, for crippling the economy, labeling his economic policies as a “complete reflection of cluelessness”.
The SAPST two day convention dialogue also touched on education and the health sector. Civil society organizations like the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD), together with the advocacy call team, shared recommendations they thought were vital for the health sector 2025 budget allocations.
ZIMCODD representative Nyasha Nyatondo, who was part of the dialogue, said the country’s shrinking economy has contributed largely to brain drain in the health care sector. He added the sector will remain unfunctional unless the government provides decent remuneration.
“We have seen people who were trained as nurses leaving the country, going to places like Canada, the UK, to be caregivers and not nurses, because they are not adequately remunerated so unless those issues are addressed, the delivery of health services will remain poor,” said Nyatondo.