Mnangagwa admits government has been fuelling black market, paying US$1500 for US$300 airline ticket

This week, my remedial searchlight beams on the public sector. Many things have been going wrong in that key sector, which must show the way, and whose buying power accounts for over 70 percent of the demand for goods and services in our Economy. Much worse, it is the governing sector!

With such a preponderant procurement role in the Economy, and such high responsibility to show exemplary conduct, it goes without saying that what the Public Sector does, or fails to do right, impacts the whole Economy, whether for better or for worse. I am determined that the impact of the whole Public Sector on the National Economy remains wholesome and supportive, indeed inspiring to all actors.

Government collects more than $150 billion monthly, by way of revenue. Fifty (50) percent of this amount goes towards recurrent expenditure, principally salaries and wages for our public servants.

The other 50 percent is split between public sector operations, which account for 20 percent, and for payment for infrastructural projects which we are implementing, which account for 30 percent.

The last item is particularly noteworthy in that before the Second Republic, very little was going towards building infrastructure, which had come to a virtual standstill.

By any count, what the Public Sector spends each month is quite huge; in fact, decisive to the direction our whole Economy takes. As a demander of goods and services, the Public Sector discharges huge sums of money into the Economy, which is why what it does matters to everyone.

Ordinarily, the goods and services which Government demands should stimulate and promote greater activity in the Economy, thus ensuring rapid economic growth.

Yet our latest investigations have shown that this is not always so. If anything, this huge demand for goods and services by the Public Sector has in fact been stoking the black market, leading to currency and price instability in the whole Economy.

Thankfully, this has not been wilful in the majority of cases. The Public Sector has largely been guilty of sins of omission.

We have not always been a prudent procurer, a weakness which has levied very costly consequences to the whole Economy.

Two examples suffice to illustrate this gross imprudence on procurement by the Public Sector.

We use lots of fuel in the Public Sector, which is often bought from private fuel suppliers through a coupon system. This is in spite of the fact that we have in the Public Sector arms which dispense and sell fuel to the public.

A quick check has revealed the bulk of our fuel needs are being met from private players. Ordinarily that should not be a problem, provided the pricing is right.

This has not always been the case, and in most cases has been grossly abused. The pricing of fuel coupons by these private players has been based on extortionate huge mark-ups, and on black market rates of anything between $900 to $1000 per USD.

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