MTP to drive growth

policies of the State, is set to drive economic growth over the next five years.
The Government’s new five-year economic blueprint was initially shot down when it was presented to Cabinet.
There were concerns that Government would not be able to meet its funding requirements.

Addressing journalists in Harare on Tuesday, Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Minister Tapiwa Mashakada said the macro-economic policy framework would be officially launched on June 27.
He said the plan requires US$9 billion to be implemented from this year to 2015. Funding would come from domestic and as well as external sources.

It is expected that funding would also come from a sovereign wealth fund, domestic investment, pension funds, Government assets and restructured parastatals, private equity investment in existing firms and foreign investment.

Public private partnerships are also expected to make funding available to support the plan.
“Today Cabinet set and deliberated on the Medium Term Plan, which will cover a lifespan of five years, that is 2011 to 2015,” he said.

“As you are quite aware, it has been 12 months since we started working on the document, trying to revise, review and rebrand it so it can stand the test of time.”
Minister Mashakada said the MTP targets national economic growth of 7 percent annually and envisages employment creation at 6 percent per year.

The economic blueprint is focused on six major themes: the vision, national economic development strategy, macro-economic framework, key economic enablers and the implementation framework.
The policy document has three major goals and these are economic transformation, orienting economy to export-led growth and creating economic clusters in manufacturing sector based on production and job creation.

There is also extensive reference in the policy to the role of tourism, mining and the financial services sector in realising desired economic targets.
Minister Mashakada said the MTP enunciates 11 national priorities, focusing on infrastructure development, employment creation, human-centred development, entrepreneurial development and macro-economic growth.

The policy also emphasises reduction of the current account deficit to 3 percent of Gross Domestic Product, achieving foreign exchanges reserves of at least three months cover, ICT and science, investment promotion, resource utilisation, gender mainstreaming and indigenisation among others.

Specific key enablers targeted include energy, transport (dualisation of Chirundu-Beitbridge road, rural and urban trunk roads), rail infrastructure, restructuring of Air Zimbabwe, water and sanitation and housing.
The blueprint is based on the model of a developmental state and borrowed extensively from the experiences of Brazil, India, Russia and China.

This philosophy is based on the understanding that the State plays a pivotal role facilitating development by entering into partnership with the private sector.
The Prime Minister’s Office will be tasked with monitoring implementation of the programme together with the Council of Ministers and the Economic Planning Commission, to be established to aid implementation.

It remains to be seen if the MTP will not meet with the same fate that befell other previous economic plans that only gathered dust in State cabinets.
“There is a paradigm shift in Government and you need to look at the performance of Government based on the STERP,” Minister Mashakada said.