Online Reporter
Wallace Ruzvidzo
Herald Reporter
Zimbabwe will this week host the SADC Committee of Ministers of Finance and Investment and the Peer Review Panel meetings in Victoria Falls.
The meetings are expected to take place on Thursday and Friday.
Zimbabwe is hosting in its capacity as the SADC Chair.
The primary objective of these meetings is to consider progress updates on ongoing initiatives that support the development and integration of financial markets across the region.
There will also be a review of member states’ progress in meeting the macroeconomic convergence targets, which is central to the SADC regional economic integration strategy aimed at achieving and maintaining macroeconomic stability.
The SADC Secretariat said the macroeconomic convergence process advocates that member states move towards a common macroeconomic climate with similar policies on inflation, public debts and current accounts.
“Macroeconomic convergence stabilises the regional economy, safeguarding it from excessive fluctuations due to external factors.
“It aims for low, stable levels of inflation; sustainable budget deficits; minimal public debt; and equitable current account balances.
“This stability, in turn, fosters economic development, as it provides a predictable and attractive environment for investment and business,” said the SADC Secretariat.
To officially endorse macroeconomic convergence in the region, SADC signed its Memorandum of Understanding on Macroeconomic Convergence in 2002, which it subsequently annexed into the Protocol on Finance and Investment (2006).
Key agenda items to be discussed by the Committee of SADC Ministers of Finance and Investment include measures to strengthen the integrity and resilience of financial systems within member states, and the formulation of strategies to sustainably finance regional infrastructure projects, particularly through development finance mechanisms.
During the Peer Review Panel meeting, ministers and central bank governors will review regional macroeconomic conditions and outlook, member states’ economic performance, and consider the peer review reports for Angola, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Ministers of Finance and Investment will decide on crucial issues to advance financial markets integration and investments across the region, among others.
The issues for decision by the Peer Review Panel meeting include the Macroeconomic Convergence (MEC) Peer Review Mechanism Process and Peer Review Reports for Angola, Zambia, and the DRC, the annual Performance Review for the MEC Programme for 2024, implementation of the Peer Review Panel’s Decisions, and the Impact of Global Geopolitical Developments on the SADC Region.
