Economy fails to lift millions in first half ‘boom’

📅 Published: August 15, 2025

📰 Source: theindependent

Curated by AllZimNews.com

Two glossy blueprints.

One glowing portrait of a Zimbabwe supposedly in one of its finest economic spells.

Last week, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)’s mid-term monetary policy statement beamed with confidence: inflation, which rampaged at 95% in July, is “under control,” foreign currency inflows are surging, reserves are swelling, and ZiG is gaining traction.

A week earlier, Finance minister Mthuli Ncube’s fiscal review sang the same tune — assuring millions of a stronger rebound, with GDP growth now forecast to triple this year’s earlier projection.

On paper, the country is not just stabilising — it is accelerating.

But step off the podium and into the streets, and another Zimbabwe emerges — one where blackouts choke industry, shopfronts shutter, and the much-celebrated currency is treated with suspicion in daily trade.

Veteran economist Eddie Cross said this week after reading both policies, the same picture emerged — but so did the flaws: a bloated civil service with a wage bill that drains about 50% of state revenues, and laxity in the collection of import duties.

Cross noted US$500 million in duties from about US$2 billion in annual car imports was far too little, depriving the state of resources and deepening the inequalities now haunting Zimbabwe. “For some time, I have argued that Zimbabwe’s economic fundamentals are sound,” Cross said. “We have a balance of payments surplus, a small fiscal surplus, and have been able to stabilise the money market to some extent.

Despite this, growth remains slow and fails to penetrate to the poorer segments of society.

This is creating an increasingly unequal nation,” he warned. 🔗

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