Waive duty on capital goods, says business

Lovemore Zigara Midlands Correspondent
THE business community has called on the government to consider waiving duty on capital goods in all sectors of the economy to enable industry to retool.

President of the Midlands Chapter of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNNC), Wellington Chinembiri, said the waiver was critical in fostering industrial revival and fresh capital injection.

He said Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa should include the proposal in crafting the 2016 national budget policy statement.

Already, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Finance is conducting budget consultations across provinces in the country.

The tourism industry, safari operators and clothing manufacturers are the only sectors currently enjoying free import duty on capital goods.

“We’re looking forward to the government enabling industry to import equipment to all sectors of the economy, which will then make production of goods competitive in the region,” Chinembiri said.

“One way of doing it would be to scrap tax which is required to clear this equipment at the borders to bring it into the country. As it stands it’s still very expensive to import equipment into the country because of such impediments.”

Weak domestic demand, high unemployment, a widening trade deficit, weakening of the Rand to the United States dollar and unreliable supply of utilities are some of the challenges which have affected the local industry with capacity utilisation at just over 36 percent.

Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president Busisa Moyo has also appealed to the government to protect the local industry for the next four years from foreign players to allow the local manufacturing sector to recover.

The CZI president said it would be premature to open the country’s borders to foreign products as this would expose the local industry especially at a time the greenback is firming against regional currencies.