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Minister Chinamasa

Business Reporter
FINANCE and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa will present the mid-term fiscal policy statement at the end of this month, according to ZBC news.

The national broadcaster reported on Monday that Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa would present the mid-term national budget on July 30.

It is envisaged the forthcoming fiscal policy review would assess the impact of the government’s tax policies introduced in the 2015 national budget as well as come up with confidence-boosting measures.

Economic analysts yesterday said the mid-term fiscal policy statement should reflect the reality on the ground and avail measures aimed at tackling economic stagnation.

“The government needs to look at how it can address the macro-economic pressures prevailing in the economy. Also there’s a need to look at what they’ve achieved from the previous budget pronouncement and identify the macro-economic challenges that have resurfaced and come up with policies to harness the challenges,” said Bongani Ngwenya, a business studies lecturer at Solusi University.

He said the government needs to evaluate progress in the implementation of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-economic Transformation (Zim-Asset) and come up with measures to boost economic growth.

“In the mid-term fiscal policy review, the government also needs to come up with policies and measures to tap into the informal sector,” Ngwenya added.

He said a policy framework was needed to harness billions of dollars circulating in the fastest growing informal sector.

“We expect the government to review the 3,2 percent economic growth target announced in the 2015 national budget and address challenges facing the economy in order to foster growth,” another analyst Wendy Mpofu said.

Peter Mhaka concurred saying the coming fiscal review policy should address the prevailing macro-economic challenges hindering foreign direct investment inflows.

It is hoped that taxation policies for minerals, excise duty on products and services as well as customs duty on imported selected commodities will come under the spotlight in the mid-term fiscal policy statement as government seeks to consolidate income inflows. In the 2015 national budget, the government projected a revenue collection of $3.7 billion.