HARARE – Zimbabwe’s economic growth is expected to slump to about half of last year’s levels amid growing fiscal instability and shrinking agricultural output, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday.
“After accelerating to around 7% in 2021, real GDP growth is expected to slow to around 3.5% in 2022,” as erratic rainfall and growing macroeconomic instability hamper agriculture, the reporting officer for a visiting IMF team, Dhaneshwar Ghura revealed.
Zimbabwe’s economy has been in recession for nearly two decades.
New devaluation pressures on prices and exchange rates have reappeared.
According to the IMF, inflation reached 285% in August against 60% at the start of the year.
“Uncertainty remains high, however, and the outlook will depend on the evolution of external shocks, the political orientation and the implementation of inclusive growth-friendly policies,” Ghura said after his visit to the capital, Harare.
The IMF offers technical assistance to Zimbabwe but is prevented from providing financial assistance to the country “due to unsustainable debt and official arrears”, he said.
Any financial agreement would require external debt servicing, macroeconomic stability, poverty reduction and transparency reforms.
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube however has been on record preach about economic growth and surplus for the struggling Southern African nation.
On the few occasions that he has admitted things are not working well, he has either blamed the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent Russia-Ukraine war for the economic misfortunes.
- Editor/ additional report by AFP
