The hour of reckoning is upon us

are made of sterner stuff. If we survived then, we can survive anything. We are no Eskimos but take us to Iceland, we will certainly come out alive and smiling
We have a way of going round through challenges to the extent that most times we even surprise ourselves. This is a major attribute, coupled with our high literacy level, that should be considered when ranking this country for investment.

However, there seems to be a tendency of wanting to give up in some aspects that has been noted in the economy.
I was chatting with one banker this other day as he told me that many were resigning to fate at a time the economy needs them the most.
I know for the banking sector, the issue of poor liquidity and scarcity of lines of credit can be frustrating, seeing as the sector is in the business of money. The situation is compounded by poor loan repayments, which are in themselves a manifestation of the unavailability of liquid cash. It’s a whole cycle.

For other sectors of the economy such as mining, agriculture tourism, frustrations are real. As a tour operator you have planned for a good festive season and Air Zimbabwe does its usual thing and you end up getting cancellations on bookings. In agriculture the rains may be promising but there is usually the challenge of inputs availability or some such constraint that will subsequently affect output.
In the transport sector, low diesel supplies will one way or the other compromise business. The list is long, but so are the solutions.

I am not about to tabulate the solutions but I believe as an economy and a country at large, we have had our happy moments and our challenging times but the key to our success lies in not giving up or badmouthing our country but in seeking to find solutions.
Life has never been a fair game but sustained efforts should be directed towards making things right. The central bank, long tormented by poor capitalisation, has had its role compromised but our view is that something can still come out of that situation. Monetary policy remains critical in guiding the economy even though the multiple currency era has brought in a different ball game altogether.

There is so much negative currents and yet the positive can subdue the bad. Its about choice. A major undoing is the political violence that reached alarming proportions a fortnight ago but thank God the three main political parties have decided to put a stop to the retrogressive behaviour.
Investors are scared stiff by any form of violence while visitors would rather view the Victoria Falls from the plane than land in a country where chances of a broken bottle landing on your head are high.

The sensitive stock market is often the barometer of investor interest and we note that its performance has been wobbly because of political and social instability.
The advent of having elections early next year has also left many sitting on the fence but one way or the other, we will have them sooner or later. The idea of elections induce some jitters in the capital markets but it’s all about the mindset. Be that as it may, there are so many positive signals in the economy which we can all choose to focus on as a source of energy, hope and confidence that the economy will come right. For instance, on the inflation side, the October figure eased to 4,2 percent from 4,3 percent, indicating that maintaining single digit, a target under the Medium Term Plan, may not be such a difficult feat after all.

Statistics show that Zimbabwe has the lowest inflation in the region, a gigantic leap from having the worst rate of inflation in the world only two years ago.
The economy, which has achieved real growth since 2009, is set to make it third time consecutively this year. Furthermore, average capacity utilisation in the manufacturing sector has grown to 57 percent from as low as 10 percent two years ago. These are positive developments which can re-energise us all to work for and anticipate better results in the coming year.

“What people need to understand and appreciate is that Zimbabwe is our home. We have one country which we call home and it all rests with every one of us to work for this country. If we don’t, who will?”
These were the wise words of the banker I referred to earlier on.

I found so much wisdom in that statement.
A few hours from now, Minister Biti will be in Parliament to unveil the 2012 Budget. We wish him well. There is so much expectation, as always, pertaining to the contents of his briefcase. He will need to match his confidence and eloquence in speech with what will be in the budget statement to move the economy forward. This is time to take stock of what has happened in 2011 and to anticipate what 2012 holds for this country. The funds are tight but the demands are growing. Minister Biti will, therefore, need to draw on wisdom from above to balance the equation.

Of course, the green light to export our diamonds brings relief in terms of revenue generation seeing as figures under the vote of credit have not been that exciting.
We have said so much on expectations from the Budget and the time has come for us to hear from the minister himself that which he has come up with out of his consultations with stakeholders.

All is set for this afternoon’s presentation. It’s ready, steady and go!
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