Mnangagwa’s full statement on lockdown extension

Zimbabwe’s strategy and response to the pandemic, as outlined above, has taken into account our nation’s realities. These include:

1. The illegal sanctions and the associated vulnerabilities and sensitivities.
2. A large informal economy which will impact on the nature, scope and anticipated impact of our interventions.
3. An economy which is highly import-dependent, a situation that has exposed us to the shocks of disruptions in the external supply chain as source countries imposed lockdowns, and as international freight systems are crippled.
4. A notable Diaspora population from the red zones many of whom are opting to come back home, thereby threatening to constitute a large number of imported cases in the country.

The continued partial lockdown is therefore critical to contain the spread of the virus, and Government has seen it fit to equally mitigate the debilitating effects of the pandemic on the economy. As such, we have put in place an Economic Rescue and Stimulus Package to respond to Covid-19.

So far our response to this pandemic has seen us putting in place a ZW$18 billion Economic Rescue and Stimulus Package, which amounts to 9 percent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or 28,6 percent of the 2020 National Budget. The package is proportionate to the disruption the virus has caused in our national economy.

This Economic Rescue and Stimulus Package is designed to scale-up production in all the sectors of the economy in response to the adverse effects of Covid-19.

The package will also be used to address the needs of the small-scale industries, improve health facilities, reduce poverty and hardships and assist vulnerable groups in our society.

While most countries will continue to benefit from financing packages from multilateral lenders like the IMF, World Bank and AfDB, Zimbabwe will unfortunately not benefit.

However, we remain grateful for the bilateral support we continue to receive from countries such as the People’s Republic of China, United Kingdom, India, United States of America, the United Arab Emirates, African Union and the European Union, among others. We equally commend the business community, humanitarian organisations and non-governmental organisations who are assisting the country at this time of great need.

Continued next page

(558 VIEWS)