Tough festive season for civil servants

Civil servants will only receive their December salaries next week, while teachers who form the bulk of government employees will be paid tomorrow, signifying the tough times the government is facing.

The government announced last week that teachers who were initially told they would be paid today, 28 December will now be paid tomorrow, 29 December, while the rest of the civil servants will be paid on 5 January.

Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa last month announced a standstill budget for 2016 with more than 90 percent of the budget going to salaries and other employment costs.

The Ministry of Home Affairs under which police and immigration fall was given practically an operation budget of $900 000.

Zimbabwe is facing a liquidity crunch which the opposition blames on legitimacy and squabbles over succession but Chinamasa has proposed to pay the country’s arrears to the international monetary institutions totaling nearly $2 billion by April to open up credit lines.

It is not clear how the country will survive until its gets the rescue package as all projections are that it will get less revenue than it budgeted for.

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