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Responding to questions from the floor at the on-going high level economic forum in Victoria Falls, he said the Government was committed to implementing policies it had launched but could not do so because there was no money.
He had been asked why the Government launched its policies with fanfare but goes silent on implementation.
Prime Minister Tsvangirai said the bulk of Government revenue was going towards salaries of civil servants, leaving little for projects.
Policies launched by the inclusive Government which seem to have been abandoned or are running behind targets include the Short-term Economic Recovery Programme and the Mid-Term Policy.
“There is a gap in policy implementation. The gap is financial. There have been financial constraints to meet targets. Seventy percent of revenue goes to meet salaries and 30 percent to work programmes. You can already see the constraint is huge,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister said 90 percent of the people were tired of the inclusive Government and wanted elections.
He, however, said elections could only be held if the conditions were right. He said the deadlock in the constitution-making process was likely to delay the referendum on the constitution.
Zanu-PF has come up with revisions to the draft produced by Copac and has said it would not budge on the changes it had made while the two MDC formations have said they would not accept the Zanu-PF changes.
Mr Tsvangirai said disagreements on policy issues among the three parties in the inclusive Government were normal.
The parties have disagreed on key policies that included indigenisation and economic empowerment.
“It’s natural in a coalition Government to have discord. You cannot run a country based on consensus,” he said.
Prime Minister Tsvangirai said the only way forward was to have elections.
Earlier, officially opening the forum, the PM urged participants at the workshop to come up with solutions to grow the economy.
“Our potential is on a leash. You have to unpack the leash,” he said.
He said despite challenges facing the country, many people were keen to explore investment opportunities in Zimbabwe.
He said the inclusive Government had brought stability but the country had not benefited from its resource base.
Speaking at the same forum, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said the occasion should provide a platform for intellectual discussion on problems facing the economy and solutions.
He said recommendations from the forum would be taken to the principals, Cabinet and Parliament.
Minister Biti said although the discussions would focus on Zimbabwe, the issues discussed would apply to most countries with fragile economies.
He said there were key structural issues, which participants at the workshop needed to understand and these included a dual enclave economy in which a few were prospering in a sea of poverty, the extraction model under which the country’s resources were being exported in their raw form and the breakdown of the social contract.
Minister Biti said the country could make use of its human capital to improve the economy.
Online Reporter