THE Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) says results of the 2019 manufacturing sector survey will be released next month during which time this year’s monetary policy statement will be presented.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor Dr John Mangudya is expected to present the monetary policy statement mid-February.
In an interview last week, CZI vice president Mr Joseph Gunda said the 2019 manufacturing sector survey report presentation will coincide with the monetary policy statement announcement so that the monetary authorities capture issues concerning industrial productivity.
Under the Second Republic, President Mnangagwa has committed to ensuring that his Government listens to the desires and aspirations of all stakeholders including the general citizenry in order for everyone to contribute to solving economic challenges facing the country.
“It (manufacturing sector survey report) will be launched at the same time the RBZ Governor presents this year’s monetary policy statement in mid-February,” said Mr Gunda.
The industrial representative body released results of its manufacturing sector survey report for 2018 in January last year.
The survey covers 10 industrial sectors including food stuffs, beverages, tobacco, clothing, footwear, furniture, paper (printing), chemicals, non-metallic minerals, transport and equipment.
“Our expectation is that capacity utilisation will certainly drop from what it was in 2018 because of a myriad of challenges largely to do with the unavailability of forex and power cuts. Due to operational challenges facing industry, our projection is that capacity utilisation will drop to 30 percent or below,” said Mr Gunda.
In 2018, the average industrial capacity utilisation grew by 3,1 percent to an average of 48,2 percent with foreign currency and policy inconsistency cited among the major drawbacks.
While Government has laid out progressive policies guided by the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP) and Vision 2030, the prevailing economic outlook continues to erode the gains achieved in 2018.
In his New Year message, President Mnangagwa declared that 2020 will be a year of higher productivity, economic growth, job creation as well as satisfying the needs of the people by continuing to be a listening Government. -@okazunga
