A source told The Insider that Mthuli Ncube has every reason to be optimistic because he now has the support of the business sector and Zimbabwe’s largest trading partner, South Africa.
The source said Zimbabwe will be a totally different country two months from now.
He said that the fiscal discipline spelt out by Ncube in October is paying off because Zimbabwe has managed to cut expenditure and achieve a surplus on a month-to-month basis.
“Meetings between the government and the private sector are meant to align the corporate sector to keep the cost of production at current levels and in a normal rainy season April would see prices of food stuff coming down,” the source said indicating that things should start stabilising in April.
Ncube has promised to review perks for civil servants in April indicating that he also believes that things will have stabilised by then.
The source also said meetings between Zimbabwe and South Africa should bring back stability in Zimbabwe.
Although South African media and private media in Zimbabwe have been awash with news that South Africa refused to bail out Zimbabwe, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said talks were going on between the two countries’ finance ministers and he would meet Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa once the teams have come up with something.
The source said South Africa’s African National Council and opposition parties, except, the Democratic Alliance, supported the Zimbabwe bail out.
The source also said the recent increase in the price of fuel which some say sparked off the anti-government protests that saw several people killed when the demonstrations turned violent is now paying off.
The procurement of fuel put the country in an economic vicious circle but the confusion has been plugged by the decision to increase the price.
“The government is not under pressure to procure fuel because consumption has gone down and pilferage through the borders has been curbed,” the source said.
(496 VIEWS)
