Addressing journalists at the party’s headquarters in Harare today, Tsvangirai said yesterday’s budget was enough proof that the Zanu (PF) led government was not capable of steering the country’s economy forward or change for the better citizens’ living conditions.
Said Tsvangirai: “Revenue inflows are dwindling and to suggest that the economy will grow by 6,1 percent is mere fantasy.”
“The 2014 budget is anti poor because it does not have measures to fund critical sectors that will improve the economy and the people’s livelihoods,” he said, adding that crafting a $4,2 billion budget when the country had no money was stretching the patience of Zimbabweans too far.
Tsvangirai described the budget presentation as a reflection that government had no clear cut policy on how to revive the country’s dying economy.
“The people were looking for confidence, leadership and boldness but Zanu PF yesterday presented delusion, ineptitude and anti-people rhetoric,” said the former Prime Minister.
He said the budget celebrated the collapse of the formal economy and did not address the critical issue of deindustrialisation.
Tsvangirai said ordinary citizens would suffer because of the raft of tax measures that were introduced.
“The proposal of capital gains tax on house sales in high density areas is too drastic and taxing users of mobile banking facilities such as Ecocash and other mobile cash platforms including artists and musicians is irrational,” said Tsvangirai.
The MDC leader said the Zanu (PF) led government was clueless on the essential components of moving the country’s economy forward.
“The country needs capital from Foreign Direct Investment and Overseas Development Assistance instead of investing in policies such as indigenisation and economic empowerment,” said Tsvangirai, adding that the continued closure of companies, liquidity crunch and escalating employment levels was an indication that there was no policy direction for the nation.
Said Tsvangirai: “Failure to present the budget on time means that all transactions done by the government in the past one month were illegal because that expenditure was not approved by Parliament.”
He said Zimbabwe had been plunged into a crisis of expectation by Zanu (PF), where civil servants had been promised salary increments by a broke government.
“There is a high possibility of an immediate return to the crisis and circus of 2008.
“Farmers continue to expect inputs from government, industry wants to be recapitalized, and the unemployed are still waiting for the over 2 million jobs that they were promised,” he said.
Tsvangirai said there is a high probability that some companies that are shutting down for the festive season might not re-open in January because of the negative economic indicators.
“We are in a leadership crisis because there is overwhelming evidence that the Zanu (PF) led government has run out of ideas on how to run the country,” said Tsvangirai.
Post published in: News