IMF lauds Zim reforms

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has commended efforts by Government to improve the country’s doing business climate.

Following the conclusion of the latest Article IV Consultations visit by a team led by Ms Ana Lucía Coronel, the team leader however said that the Government could still do more in its efforts.

“Building on the progress already achieved, the Government is encouraged to demonstrate that Zimbabwe is open for business,” she said.

“This will include enhancing efforts to tackle corruption, encouraging private sector investment, allowing the market to determine prices, promoting labour flexibility, and creating a stable legal and regulatory framework to reduce policy uncertainty.

“Moreover, there is room for enhancing domestic revenue mobilisation, boosting transparency in the mining sector, and improving governance in public enterprises to strengthen the country’s fiscal position.”

Since the beginning of last year, the Government has been utilising the Rapid Results Approach (RRA) focusing on improving the country’s ease of doing business climate, which has been well-received by the World Bank.

The RRA is an increasingly popular method for improving performance within large organisations and multi-sectoral partnerships, which utilises specially structured, 100-day goals to accelerate change and capacity development.

Government’s efforts in this respect has recorded a number of major milestones in the second 100-day phase of the project last year.

In terms of the second phase, progress was recorded in all the thematic areas which included Starting a Business and Protecting Minority Investors, Construction Permits and Property Registration, Enforcing Contracts and Resolving Insolvency, Getting Credit and Paying Taxes and Trading across Borders.

Meanwhile, the IMF team said the economy will largely be buoyed by improved performance of the agriculture and mining sector.  It however cautioned against fiscal indiscipline.

“The recovery in agriculture and mining will drive growth this year. However, maintaining the growth momentum will require action to expedite the authorities’ plans to reduce the deficit to a sustainable level.

“Excessive government spending, if continued, could exacerbate the cash scarcity, further jeopardize the health of the external and financial sectors, and, ultimately, fuel inflation,” said Ms Coronel.  —  BH24