AFP, Harare :
Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa on Thursday presented the 2018 budget which included a raft of business- and investor-friendly proposals as well as plans to tackle corruption and waste.
The measures include the partial repeal of a controversial indigenisation law passed under former president Robert Mugabe that had limited foreign ownership of local businesses to 49 percent.
The $5.1 billion (4.32 billion euros) budget, the first since Mugabe’s shock resignation on November 21, must now be passed by parliament.
It also contains measures to tackle corruption and waste, including a ban on first-class air travel for officials except the president and his deputy, a reduction in overseas diplomatic posts and compulsory retirement for civil servants over 65.
“Government will attract both domestic and international investment by implementing investor-friendly policies,” said Chinamasa, who was reappointed as finance minister by Zimbabwe’s new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa.
He said Zimbabwe needed to reestablish its credibility with global financiers in order to relieve chronic cash shortages, a dearth of foreign exchange and a gaping budget deficit.
Zimbabwe would also seek to mend strained ties with Britain, the European Union and the United States while attempting to secure new lines of credit from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, he said.
The country is currently in arrears to the World Bank and other creditors to the tune of around $5 billion.
Chinamasa forecast the economy would grow by 4.5 percent in 2018, driven by his austerity measures and anticipated growth in the mining and agricultural sectors.
Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa on Thursday presented the 2018 budget which included a raft of business- and investor-friendly proposals as well as plans to tackle corruption and waste.
The measures include the partial repeal of a controversial indigenisation law passed under former president Robert Mugabe that had limited foreign ownership of local businesses to 49 percent.
The $5.1 billion (4.32 billion euros) budget, the first since Mugabe’s shock resignation on November 21, must now be passed by parliament.
It also contains measures to tackle corruption and waste, including a ban on first-class air travel for officials except the president and his deputy, a reduction in overseas diplomatic posts and compulsory retirement for civil servants over 65.
“Government will attract both domestic and international investment by implementing investor-friendly policies,” said Chinamasa, who was reappointed as finance minister by Zimbabwe’s new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa.
He said Zimbabwe needed to reestablish its credibility with global financiers in order to relieve chronic cash shortages, a dearth of foreign exchange and a gaping budget deficit.
Zimbabwe would also seek to mend strained ties with Britain, the European Union and the United States while attempting to secure new lines of credit from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, he said.
The country is currently in arrears to the World Bank and other creditors to the tune of around $5 billion.
Chinamasa forecast the economy would grow by 4.5 percent in 2018, driven by his austerity measures and anticipated growth in the mining and agricultural sectors.
