'Total economic turnaround unachievable in Zim'

Published: 15 January 2018

PRESIDENTIAL spokesperson Mr George Charamba has said total economic turnaround is not achievable in 100 days due to the state of the economy but President Emmerson Mnangagwa was doing everything within his powers to turn-around the fortunes of the country.

Mr Charamba said Government needs time for reforms that have been put in place to start bearing fruit and any other expectation is likely to result in a crisis of expectations

In a wide ranging interview on ZiFM last Thursday, Mr Charamba who is also the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information Media and Broadcasting Services said the 100-day concept was borrowed from powerhouse America and does not take into account the reality on the ground in Zimbabwe.

"First of all, it is an American concept which we have imported, into our own politics but one which doesn't take into account the realities that are obtaining in our own situation. You are talking of a President in America who has a whole mighty economy behind him and therefore who can in fact not just create time but define reality by virtue of it being the strongest economy.

"Now, we have plucked from that omnipotent office, a management concept called 100 days to plant it onto an economy that is coming from a minus and still go by a calendar month," said Mr Charamba.

"VaChinamasa did his budget and this is barely a month ago. It terms of public disbursement of funds, you might as well write off January as a dead month because by then the inflows by way of revenue are virtually insignificant which means it's a lost month. In fact Government will be struggling to meet staff costs. Don't talk about programmes or funding projects because that is out of the question.

"Your revenue inflows only start looking up maybe around mid-February and then beginning to outgrow that incipient trend maybe in March, April and there about, which means there is a gradual incremental build up by way of disbursements to Government ministries.

"From the lean month of January, right up to say about May or June that's when you can confidently say you are operating at full throttle. Such that really, if Zimbabweans are counting days hoping for real measurable, concrete material changes in their lives within 100 calendar days then we are likely to meet a crisis of expectation which may not in fact be validated through scientific reckoning."

He said nations don't recover materially in the first instance, but people must believe that they are headed in the right direction and then real material recovery follows.

Mr Charamba said what people need to understand is that what is key during the 100 days is to understand the point of view, intentions of the state and Government, and clarity in terms of where the country is headed.

"Yes we have come from a very bad situation. Maybe say from a worst situation. From worst we get to worse, from worse hopefully we get to bad and from bad we get to zero and from zero then we begin to crawl up the positive trend which basically is what we are looking at.

"But most importantly you'll notice that the queues are beginning to ease off, even the amounts that are being disbursed by banks are also beginning to change. Not so significantly to bring about real change in people's lives but symbolically send a signal to say that things are beginning to look up," he said.

Mr Charamba assured the nation that there will be more of qualitative measurement after successful engagement with the international community which the Government is pursuing.

He encouraged discipline and honesty in all sectors.

"Give a day's honest work, leave when you have to leave and say to yourself at this blessed day of our Lord I delivered one, two, three or four things which means changing the whole culture of public administration.

That is the sine qua non for the overall recovery of the economy. It starts with you, its starts with me, how we go about our business , what our attitude is, in terms of the work that we must do as citizens of this country," said Mr Charamba.
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