Zimbabwe needs US$4 billion: Biti

By Staff Reporter

HARARE – Tendai Biti, the MDC-T Secretary General and shadow Minister of Finance, has said Zimbabwe needs US$4 billion in order to resuscitate key sectors such as mining, agriculture and rail cargo transport. 

Biti told a press conference at the MDC-T Harvest House headquarters in Harare today that it was evident from the past six months that the Zanu PF government had no capacity from an economic point of view to govern.

“84 percent of the formal sector has collapsed. Day to day, we are seeing the de-industrialisation of the formal sector. The problem of the informal economy is that it is a dead economy that does not pay taxes and it is a tragedy that this clueless government of the day is celebrating the creation of the informal market.

“There is no question that Zimbabwe is mired in a serious, deep crisis. There is confidence breakdown of the social contract, collapse in government revenue, capital account deficit.  There is no doubt that the government of the day is no government as it is clueless, impotent, sterile, idea free and indifferent,” he said.

The former finance minister under the coalition government argued that Zimbabwe is mired in a deep crisis because the Zanu PF government had abandoned its role of leading to pursue populist policies.

Biti said Zanu PF’s election pledge of slashing rates, had led to the failure by local authorities to pay even basic salaries and called on the government to provide grants to the authorities so that they are able to provide better service delivery.

“We believe that logic should prevail.  The government should provide a grant so that the local authorities will not fail to provide rudimentary services,” he said.

Biti also said it was a crime and unconstitutional for Zanu PF to fail to pay school fees for over one million children through the Basic Education Assistance Model (BEAM).

Turning to corruption that has rocked most parastatals over illicit salaries, Biti said the people of Zimbabwe have been shocked by this level of corruption by Zanu PF linked officials and he called for the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry that is headed by a retired judge.

“What has been disclosed so far is a tip of the iceberg.  Suspending the board chairperson or firing the CEO is not enough.  The commission of inquiry should look into all these scandals,” he said.