Govt to evaluate MTP progress

Mashakada said.
Infrastructure development has been cited in the US$9,3 billion economic blueprint as vital economic recovery, growth and development.
Broadly, it envisages restoration of all basic infrastructure, including energy, road, air and rail transport, ICT, water and sanitation by 2015.
“It’s almost a year after the launch and we will this week be visiting Hwange Power Station, followed by another visit to Kariba Power Station to see what progress they have made,” said Minister Mashakada.
The policy framework, which was launched in June last year, targets to increase power generation capacity from 1 960 megawatts to 2 800 megawatts by 2015.
Experts said that the power generation targets espoused in the MTP were well within reach, if all is put in place.
Power utility Zesa Holdings has shortlisted 11 bidders for the US$2 billion expansion of Hwange and Kariba.
Zimbabwe is facing power shortages, as it has not significantly invested in new and expanded power infrastructure over the last three decades.
Chronic power shortages have forced Zesa to introduce power rationing and often unannounced supply cut-offs due to demand pressure.
Production is often interrupted in the agriculture, manufacturing, mining and tourism sectors.
Some firms now resort to using expensive options, such as diesel generators, while others pay high tariffs to get uninterrupted supply.
In the first quarter economic update, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said poor revenue collections, particularly from diamond mining in Marange, have negatively impacted on funding for the bulk of infrastructure projects.
As at March 31, 2012, about US$63 million had been spent on capital projects.
This represented 8 percent of the US$800 million capital expenditure for the 2012 Budget. 
During the period, the energy sector received US$500 000, transport and communication US$3,5 million, water and sanitation US$1,4 million and US$12 million for housing development.
The ICT received US$160 000 while irrigation and rehabilitation got US$1,9 million.
The US$9,3 billion blueprint builds on the foundation laid by the Short-Term Economic Recovery Programme and three-year Macro-economic Policy Framework launched in 2009 and last year respectively.
Its priorities include macro-economic stability, infrastructure and human centred development, employment creation, development of SMEs, information communication technology, science and technology and good governance, removal of sanctions and combating corruption.
Also at the heart of the policy are investment regulations, co-ordination and promotion, natural resource utilisation, poverty reduction and gender mainstreaming, development energy infrastructure and rural development.
The MTP targets an average annual economic growth rate of 7,1 percent during the five-year period and an average annual employment creation of 6 percent.
It envisages a current account deficit of 5 percent of Gross Domestic Product by 2015, foreign exchange reserves of at least three months import cover and double-digit savings and investment ratios of 20 percent of GDP.
The policy document also targets a budget deficit of less than 5 percent, reducing sovereign debt to 60 percent of GDP by 2015, poverty reduction to meet Millennium Development Goals and a good interest rate regime.
Zimbabwe’s economy has been on a recovery path since dollarisation in 2009, following a decade-long recession which was characterised by high inflation, shortages of foreign currency and massive de-industrialisation.