Zimbabwe plans to create 760 000 jobs by 2025, Finance Minister says

Zimbabwe Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube says Zimbabwe intends to create at least 760 000 formal jobs over the next five years.

In an opinion piece in Newzwire, Ncube said the country also intends to strengthen its foreign exchange system by building reserves of at least six months import cover.

“We have tightened the belt, and taken back control; now we must spend wisely,” he wrote. “With the dark economic days behind us, and our fate firmly back in our own hands, we too look to the light upon the horizon with hope and optimism.”

Below is the full write-up:

With the recent announcements of vaccines to the Covid-19 pandemic, the world is staring through their dark tunnel to get a glimpse of the light.

While the pain continues, and many still suffer, the ray of hope is on the horizon for citizens of our world, and for the global economy.

So too for the people of Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean economy has been mired in darkness, unsuccessfully navigating stormy seas for decades. Our ship has been battered and bruised — often by forces beyond our control.

The resultant widespread poverty misrepresents the true potential and hope which lies within our educated people, fertile soils, and blessed lands.

Under the new dispensation we have chosen to handle the situation differently. We have chosen responsible reforms, reining in spending, tough restructuring and reorganisation. It has been a difficult period of stabilisation. But we too can now see the light on the horizon.

The Transitional Stabilisation Programme was about steadying the ship. And even with the disastrous impact of Cyclone Idai, droughts, and Covid-19, we have continued to fix those sails. Day and night. Now, we must turn the ship around.

Employment and wealth creation, national development and poverty alleviation. These are the main goals of our recently announced National Development Strategy.

The Vision 2030 was launched in September 2018 to chart Zimbabwe’s new development trajectory to achieve an “Upper Middle Income Society” by 2030, for an empowered and prosperous Zimbabwe.

The National Development Strategy aims to strengthen macroeconomic stability, characterised by low and stable inflation, as well as exchange rate stability.  We will work to achieve and sustain inclusive and equitable Real GDP growth, promoting new enterprise development, employment and job creation.

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