Economists Dispute Claims of Zimbabwe Economy Rebound
Bimha said the rebound was also due to the implementation of a plethora of government policies including the Zanu-PF government’s five-year economic blueprint.
WASHINGTON DC — Economists are skeptical about Industry Minister Mike Bimha’s assertion that the economy is on the rebound and that there is renewed investor confidence on Zimbabwe. Bimha told the state-controlled Herald newspaper Tuesday that the rebound is supported by the high number of businesses willing to inject capital into various sectors of the economy. Bimha said the rebound was also due to the implementation of a plethora of government policies including the Zanu PF government’s five-year economic blueprint, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimAsset). Despite the intermittent power cuts and the shutting down of industries the minister has, in the past, maintained that the country’s future is bright under the Zanu PF government. He said, “Zimbabwe is ready for investment. There are people who think that Zimbabwe is against investment and our laws inhibit investors from coming, but we have big international investors coming which is a sign that it is a safe investment destination.” Zimbabwe is currently facing economic hardships that seem to be worsening everyday with thousands of workers losing jobs as companies close shop. Studio 7 reached out to one of the economic commentators disputing the rebounce, Rejoice Ngwenya, who said all indicators point to the contrary. “The point is when you are talking about an economy that is on a rebound there are specific milestones or indices that you look at. You look at the stock exchange or bourse and you find that a lot of companies have lost their prices,” he said.