adminmillion in September last year, with Government now working on a strategy to liquidate the debts.
Notable entities owing, and also being owed, include Zesa, TelOne, Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe Zinwa and the National Railways of Zimbabwe, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said last week.
“An analysis of financial statements and management accounts of some public enterprises showed that they are owed not only by individuals, but by other public entities and Government departments.
“The inter-parastatal debt and debts owed by other creditors have crippled public entities, resulting in them failing to fulfil their mandate in an efficient manner, leading to a public outcry,” he said.
Inter-parastatal debt remains a major challenge, influencing their performance adversely affecting their ability to effectively contribute to economic development.
The Government will next month host an inter-parastatal debt all-stakeholder conference to consult on the development of a comprehensive debt strategy.
The conference will seek to fully appreciate the causes of inter-parastatal debt and its effect on State enterprises and the economy.
Minister of State Enterprises and Parastatals Gorden Moyo said the Government would come up with strategies to reduce the accumulation of inter-parastatal debt and come up with strategies to deal with inter-parastatal debts already incurred.
He said the Government is also seeking strategies to deal with ministries and Government departments debts to State enterprises.
“Inter-parastatal debt remains one of the most serious challenges affecting the cash-flows of most of the State enterprises to the detriment of economic recovery efforts initiated by Government,” he said.
The conference is expected to address one of the major challenges faced by the State enterprises, which has not allowed them to fully contribute to the development of the country through efficient provision of goods and services.
Zimbabwe has 78 State enterprises with the capacity to contribute 40 percent to the Gross Domestic Product, but most of them are underperforming.
Some of them have for long been operating without boards of directors while others have failed to publish financial accounts and reports.
Their poor performance has resulted in poor service delivery, particularly in the supply of water, road, air transport and electricity.
Online Reporter