President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said his government is encouraged by the economic stability which he attributed to the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP).
Mnangagwa made the remarks in his state of the nation address (SONA) during which he also indicated that sanctions imposed on the country by Western states continued to choke efforts to revive the collapsed economy. The president said:
Our Transitional Stabilisation Programme has delivered and there are causes for optimism. My government is indeed encouraged by the current economic stability evident since the launch of the foreign exchange auction system in June.
The system has resulted in the stability of the foreign exchange rate as well as the prices of our goods and services.
In spite of the global and local economic impact of the covid-19 pandemic, our exports increased by 4.9 % to $USD1,96 billion during the first half of 2020 from $USD1,86 billion in 2019 for the comparative period.
Meanwhile, imports declined by 5,9% from $USD1,96 billion to $USD1,84 billion during the 2019 and 2020 first half comparative periods. In addition, foreign currency receipts have performed better than anticipated, appreciating by 18% as at end of August 2020 coupled by diaspora remittances which further stability.
Zimbabwe aims to have achieved an upper-middle-income economy status by 2030 and the government believes it is on the right track.
some economic analysts, however, say the Southern African country has a long way to go after suffering the worst recession in a decade when the incumbent government came to power two years ago.
