Biti slams Gono-(15-02-07)

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Biti was addressing business executives during a critique of the monetary policy review last week at a local hotel here. He said Gono had pointed out the distortions in the economy and blamed several parastatals and unnamed individuals, but had deliberately chosen not to name the RBZ as another vehicle for Zanu (PF) looting where senior government officials accessed foreign currency at concessionary rates and traded it on the black market.
He said the value of the Zimbabwe dollar, which the governor refused to devalue, was another distortion, which he had the power to address.
“Zimbabwe has become a privatised, militarised state run by securocrats and ruling party thugs whose sole aim is personal aggrandizement,” Biti said.
He said the destruction wrought on the economy was such that it would be an uphill task for any new government taking the reins from the governing party. Biti unveiled shocking statistics on economic decay, revealing that the country has suffered persistent negative economic growth rates.
“There is more electricity available in war-torn Mogadishu than in Harare where an acute foreign currency crunch has made sure everything has virtually collapsed,” Biti said amid applause. “Twenty years ago, Zimbabwe was the jewel of the region but now it has an economy which accounts for less than three percent of the regional GDP.”
Biti, who is also an economics and constitutional law expert, said real savings were now less than two percent of GDP while pensioners were struggling to survive.
“The tragedy of the Zimbabwean crisis is that it has mutated from a stage where there were criminals in the State to the stage where the State itself has become criminal. The State is now the biggest player on the parallel market,” said Biti. “We know for a fact that the governor has printed over Z$400 million and expended it without Parliamentary approval as required by law. It is frightening that the State, which has the responsibility of making sure that justice prevails in the nation, is itself the star player in extra-legal activities.” – Staff Reporter