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Haulage trucks await clearance at Beitbridge Border Post in this file photo

Brighton Gumbo Business Reporter
ZIMBABWE’s imports declined by 12 percent in the month of October to $516 million, from $584 million recorded in September, latest data from the Zimbabwe National Statistical Agency shows. In the period under review, Zimbabwe imported most of its goods from South Africa, Singapore and China.

From South Africa, the country procured goods valued at $201 million, in Singapore they were worth $115 million and in China goods worth $52 million were imported.

The least imports worth $19 were from Timor, an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea.

ZimStat data shows that the country imported goods worth $4,6 billion between January and October this year.

An Economic commentator, Luxon Zembe, told Business Chronicle that the reduction in the country’s imports is owed largely to a number of duties which the Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa introduced to boost the local industry.

“In his mid-term budget review statement, the Finance Minister imposed duty on a number of goods and it’s a positive sign to see that measures that were put in place are beginning to bear fruits,” said Zembe.

He said the decline in the imports was also attributed by decrease in aggregate demand, which is the demand for the gross domestic product (GDP) of a country and the liquidity crunch which had slowed down economic activity.

Zembe said not much imports are expected in the remaining month as industries were starting to wind down the year.

Meanwhile, data from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency indicates that the exports recorded in the month of October were $236 million compared to $224 million recorded in the month of September.

However, despite the earnings, the country’s trade deficit widened to $2,6 billion in the 10 months of the year, as the country’s economy continues to slide into recession in the absence of strong economic reforms.