Biti says Zimbabwe is suffering from fiscalitis- “tinodya mari semushonga womusana”

Thirdly, is Government borrowing. It is shocking Madam Speaker that for the first time in the history of Zimbabwe, domestic debt which is around $10bn is now exceeding external sovereign debt. It is basically unheard of. It means that the Government among other things is running a parallel quasi fiscal economy. When you have a situation which we have now that domestic debt plus external debt is now $21bn, it is criminal. It means that every child who is being born right now – a baby that is being born at Mbuya Nehanda Maternity Ward even before she has put on diapers she owes money which she does not know to the tune of $200 000 – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

The dangerous thing about that debt is that you are eating into future generations. That $20bn has to be paid by future generations. That means the present generation, through economic mismanagement, is imposing a tax on future generations, a tax in the form of interest repayments that has to be made. That Madam Speaker is absolutely unacceptable.

The fourth thing which I want to talk about is inflation. Zimbabweans know the scourge of inflation. In June 2008, which was the last time that our Government gave figures before the Inclusive Government, inflation was 231 million percent. Month on month inflation was over a million percent. We had a situation where when you are in a queue, prices would change three times. I saw that yesterday personally. I went to Union Hardware in Workington, a man came in the morning to ask for a quotation of a door. He was given a quotation of $90. That same man went at lunch at Union Hardware and he was told that the door is $190. When I saw that man at four o’clock at Union Hardware, it was now $290. We are back to the era of hyperinflation.

Let me tell you something about hyperinflation. High inflation – 12% or 18% is byproduct of economic mismanagement. High inflation is economic failure. Hyperinflation has nothing to do with economics. Hyperinflation reflects a total breakdown of confidence and trust – a total breakdown of the social contract. In other words, the citizen loses any confidence in a Government. It goes back to politics. It goes back to legitimacy which is why I submitted at the beginning that what we are facing in this country might appear to be an economic problem. It is not. It is in fact a political problem, a crisis of legitimacy.

Madam Speaker, I want to zero in on solutions. The first thing that we need to do is to bring fiscal consolidation. We have to eat what we kill. We have to pursue a fiscal balance and balance our books. If you kill a rat, you cannot have the part of an elephant. You cannot feast and call the whole village when you have killed a rat. If you kill a rat, you eat a rat. We have to go back to the issue of cash budgeting. We have to go back to the issue of a zero deficit balance. It is normal economics Madam Speaker. The greatest economists in the world are not the Paul Volckers of this world, they are not the Allan Crispers of this world, they are our mothers in Chendambuya and in Binga who know that if my husband earns $10, I spend $10.          Let me tell you something about economics. In economics, one minus two it cannot. Once you say one minus two is minus one, you have got a problem and that is the problem with these men on the left.

The second thing which we have to do is to make sure that the economy grows. We have to invest in the supply side of the economy. We need foreign direct investment in this country. We have to be truly open for business. We cannot say we are open for business when we are busy stealing elections – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

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