BY CHIEF REPORTER
HARARE
Whoever wins Saturday’s presidential election will have to hastily formulate policies that will extricate Zimbabwe from deepening economic meltdown, characterised by falling wages and skyrocketing prices of basics.
Analysts are unanimous that the biggest job will be undoing the damage that the 28 years of Zanu (PF) rule has inflicted on the economy. Resuscitating the ailing economy and embarking on a new reconstruction and development programme reminiscent of the South African initiative in the mid-1990s and Zimbabwe’s own post-war efforts when Mugabe came to power in 1980, will in part mitigate the political problems.
The rampant inflation, officially at 100,530 per cent – the highest in world – and exorbitant prices of basic commodities will have to be brought down as soon as possible to bring some relief to long-suffering Zimbabweans.
This will require outsiders, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, who have abandoned Zimbabwe, to come aboard and help. It remains doubtful, of course, whether these institutions will come back without a political settlement.
Analysts criticise Mugabe for sidestepping the issue of the crumbling economy.
“Few will disagree that the single greatest need of Zimbabwe is to reverse economic decline,” said economist Eric Bloch.
Another business analyst pointed out that the winner would have to face some tough economic decisions, most urgently over the exchange rate.
Post published in: News