admin“We have decided to shelve the plans until the entities really recapitalise their operations. We do not want to reward mediocrity.
“Of course, a few of the entities in 2011 performed relatively better than others but their profits are marginal and thus we decided that let the idea be stood over until such a time when they are performing well,” said the State Enterprises and Parastatals Minister Gorden Moyo in an interview last week.
In a progress report on the overall performance of SEPs between 2011 and 2012, which Minister Moyo recently presented to the Council of Ministers, he said some of the entities showed signs of recovery in 2011 as board and management, with the support of line ministries, implemented various strategies and policies to improve their viability.
He said SEPs that posted profits in the 2011 financial year include TelOne, NetOne, People’s Own Savings Bank, Zesa, Zimbabwe Power Company, PetroTrade, and the National Oil Infrastructure Company of Zimbabwe.
“In addition, even though some SEPs recorded losses, they showed signs of turnaround as indicated by reduced levels of losses during the year under review compared to the previous year.
“The SEPs who significantly reduced their losses during the period under review include Agribank which improved from a loss of $8 155 315 in 2010 to a loss of $286 409 in 2011 and Grain Marketing Board which improved from a loss of $18 709 284 in 2010 to a loss of $6 210 184 in 2011,” he said in the report.
Minister Moyo told this paper that presently his ministry was prioritising on strategies to turn around the SEPs.
Due to the rough patch the country’s economy went through over the past decade among other reasons, the parastatals’ contribution to the Gross Domestic Product has been heavily undermined.
“For now our focus is on four key areas which are corporate governance reforms, restructuring reforms, legislative and regulatory reforms, and performance management based reforms” he said.
Online Reporter