By Staff Reporter
FORMER Mt Pleasant legislator, Fadzayi Mahere has criticized Information Permanent Secretary Nick Mangwana for attempting to portray the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s observations on widespread corruption and the limited acceptance of the ZiG currency as an endorsement of Zimbabwe’s economic progress.
Mahere dismissed this as a disingenuous spin doctoring tactic.
An IMF delegation, led by Mission Chief Wojciech Maliszewski, is currently in Zimbabwe for the Article IV Consultation, which provides an opportunity to review the country’s economic policies and progress under the IMF’s regular assessment framework.
This week’s review follows an earlier visit in January this year. It is widely considered a critical juncture for Zimbabwe’s reform agenda.
While the Staff Monitored Programme (SMP) does not provide funding, its successful implementation is a prerequisite for future access to concessional financing, potential debt restructuring, and the restoration of confidence among international creditors and investors—all of which Zimbabwe desperately needs.
The southern African nation is burdened with a burgeoning public debt that has now exceeded US$21 billion, including more than US$12.3 billion owed to external creditors.
Following the visit, IMF Mission Chief Maliszewski said the IMF would like to see a fully functioning local ZiG currency and fiscal discipline with a balance between expenditure and revenue.
He also addressed the issue of corruption and stressed the need for a genuine currency exchange market, as well as a credible debt restructuring process.
In an attempt to put a positive spin on this, Mangwana posted on his X account his own interpretation of the IMF’s comments.
“The IMF sees macroeconomic stability in Zimbabwe— we see it too. They want to see the ZIG becoming fully our national currency — we want that too. They see the ZIG stability— we are witnesses.”
However, Mahere, who is also a constitutional lawyer, strongly disagreed with Mangwana’s sentiments.
“Did you listen carefully to what the IMF representative is actually saying? These are the key takeaways: This Govt has no fiscal discipline. Fiscal discipline is urgently required. The public financial management system is worrisome. Read “there’s too much corruption.”
“The people need reassurance that the so-called reforms introduced will stay. Read “there’s no trust or public confidence in what the Govt says about the state of the economy.”
“The ZIG is not yet a national currency. While it may look stable, it is not widely used. The official exchange rate is artificial as demonstrated by the existence of a parallel market rate. The fact that the two don’t converge is problematic. You can rig an election but you cannot rig the economy,” Mahere wrote on her X account in response to Mangwana.
Fourteen months after its introduction, the ZiG currency is still failing to facilitate payments for essential services such as passport issuance, fuel, and other necessities, indicating its shortcomings.
The private sector, particularly Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), does not accept ZiG as a form of payment in its daily transactions, leaving many, especially civil servants, searching for US dollars on the parallel market, where the exchange rate is US$1: 40 ZiG, even though the Treasury has set the official exchange rate at US$1: 27 ZiG.