Sanctions suffocating Zim parastatals, says minister

Cabinet minister has said.
The embargo, which was slapped on Harare as punishment for implementing agrarian reforms a decade ago, has been blocking State enterprises from accessing lines of credit from international financiers.
The United States has enacted a law to block the flow of funds between its companies and those from Zimbabwe.
Speaking during a seminar on the Corporate Governance Framework for State Enterprises and Parastatals, Minister Gorden Moyo said the removal of sanctions would ensure smooth operations of parastatals in the country.
“All parastatals should work without any boundaries or restrictions to ensure growth in the sector,” he said.
“We should restore our international relations to boost performance of our public entities.”
Minister Moyo said parastatals were one of the key sectors of the economy that contributed almost half of the Gross Domestic Product.
“Parastatals are crucial to the recovery of the economy as they have the potential of contributing almost 40 percent of the GDP,” he said.
Most parastatals in the country are operating below capacity and are failing to recapitalise due to limited credit lines. The minister said Government had initiated a reform programme aimed at recapitalising public entities but limited availability of funds was constraining the efforts.
“We are currently on a reform programme to recapitalise our parastatals so that they can perform better,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister Moyo urged heads of parastatals to uphold good corporate governance practices in order to ensure transparency in their operations.
“Good governance is part of Government reforms to boost operations of public entities,” he said.
“Good governance ensures transparent and smooth flow of operations,” he said. – New Ziana.