Does Zimbabwe have an economy?

Herewith a seemingly simple yet thought provoking question to ponder on. Does this our country have an economy? In light of the release of the recent monetary policy statement released on the 2nd of October 2018, it is imperative to critically evaluate what passes for the economy of Zimbabwe in order to establish and map a way forward for the average Zimbabwean whose life and day to day activities are tremendously affected by decisions made at national level.

What is an economy? According to the Collins Dictionary 2018, an economy is the system according to which the money, industry and trade of a country or region are organised; a country’s economy is the wealth it gets from business and industry. For a long time now in Zimbabwe when the term ‘economy’ is mentioned, the first thing that pops up in someone’s head is money and how the depreciation of the currency used at the time (bond notes in this instance), negatively affects trade as prices spiral upwards and shortages in commodities occur. What kind of economy are we going to have when productivity in most sectors has plummeted? Production means jobs, jobs mean income for households. Taxes are levied from those who have jobs. Then the state can maintain social services.

Zimbabwe currently has a $16.9billion debt which covers both the domestic and foreign debt. What is saddening to note is that despite the steepness of this debt, there is practically no development on the ground to justify such a borrowing. Funds borrowed for the purpose of benefiting an economy ideally should be organised in such a way that profits are realized; this means borrowed funds are poured into production and farming activities. Not only does production answer the question of paying back the incurred debt, it also explains the question of the availability of commodities. By Friday the 5th of October 2018, the inflation rate had gone up by 230% and this resulted in a serious hike in goods prices and has also resulted in the shortage of commodities as goods are purchased from neighboring countries such as South Africa and Botswana and in order to purchase these commodities, there is the need for forex which is only available on the black market at ludicrous rates.

The average employed Zimbabwean is receiving a salary in bond notes whereas the unemployed Zimbabweans who constitute of 90% of the population do not even have a salary and are struggling to make ends meet. With the then continued increase in prices of commodities, how is the Zimbabwean citizen expected to survive?

Not so many years ago, Zimbabwe was the bread basket of SADC, providing maize for the SADC region; it was through the country’s productive ability that the country had a strong economy and a stable currency. That however is not the case today, thus the question which I leave with you to ponder is; Does Zimbabwe have an economy?