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Business Editor
FINANCE and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube will meet captains of industry and commerce in Bulawayo today to explain key points of the 2019 National Budget Statement as well as clarify issues around currency challenges.

Following his budget presentation on Thursday, Prof Ncube is expected to shed policy insight, particularly around strategies to rejuvenate industry in Bulawayo, which is facing serious challenges, and measures to harness wider investment opportunities within Matabeleland region and the country at large.

The Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) Matabeleland region is organising the “post budget review and currency indaba” that will be held at a city hotel from 9AM.

“The Honourable Minister of Finance, Professor Mthuli Ncube, will be in Bulawayo to engage corporate Matabeleland and discuss the recently announced budget, inform the business community on the currency conundrum as well as gather information regarding the challenges peculiar to our region for consideration in refining his fiscal regime henceforth,” said ZNCC in a notice to its members.

“Our desire is to intervene in the current economic challenges in a bid to proffer solutions as well as inform the business community on Government’s plans going forward and to be the conduit to progressive dialogue between Government and its stakeholders in the private sector.

“We believe that an informed person makes better decisions than his/her uninformed counterpart. We also want to curb speculative tendencies that result from lack of information.”

The 2019 budget exhibits a strong desire by Government to increase support for the productive sector, reforming the business environment and facilitating close investment partnerships and best practices in economic operations.

The $8,2 billion 2019 budget is anchored on the theme, “Austerity for Prosperity”, emphasising the need for the country to take painful but necessary measures to stabilise the economy and create a conducive environment for increased investment and job creation.

It draws inspiration from the Government’s Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP), a two-year medium term blue-print that targets medium-term macro and fiscal stabilisation and laying a solid foundation for attaining the overall goal of a strong, sustainable and shared growth.