President Emmerson Mnangagwa today said no one will lose their money so temporary pressures must not blind people to the major gains his administration has made and continues to make on the economic front.
His assurance, however, seems to have come a little late as some people have already lost their money while converting it into hard currency or trying to stock up on basic commodities whose prices rocketed.
Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube announced a two cents per dollar transaction tax on 1 October but it only came into effect yesterday while central bank governor John Mangudya also on 1 October re-introduced foreign currency accounts trashing the bond note and electronic money.
Writing in his weekly column which kicked off in the Sunday Mail today, Mnangagwa said he was fully aware that these measures had triggered instability in prices.
“I am fully conscious of this and remain committed to ensure that we stabilise things in the shortest possible time,” Mnangagwa said.
“Equally, I am aware that information must continue to flow to the citizenry so that there is an appreciation of the direction we are taking, the course we must walk and the sacrifices to be made, and for how long.”
He said his government was working flat out to protect consumers, defend wage values and secure savings.
“No one will lose their money,” he said. “Temporary pressures must not blind us to the major gains we have made and continue to make on the economic front. Let us keep our focus on things that matter and on what needs to be urgently done.”
The President said Zimbabweans, including leaders, must gird for belt-tightening because there are pains to be borne and sacrifices to be made as his administration implements its Transitional Stabilisation Programme.
The Transitional Stabilisation Programme, which will run for two years, was launched by Ncube on 5 October, and is aimed at providing Zimbabwe with the right footing to turn into a middle income economy by 2030.
Mnangagwa said “like all stabilisation programmes, there are pains to be borne and sacrifices to be made before things start looking up for the ordinary man in the street.
“We must all gird for belt-tightening measures, leaders and ordinary citizens alike. No one is immune to the sacrifices that are necessary to stabilise the economy.
“Those of us in leadership across all sectors of our economy must show the way through even bigger sacrifices,” he said.
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