Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD), a social and economic justice movement has condemned the recent mid-term fiscal policy review as anti-people due to its failure to capture the needs of the people.
The Mid-term Fiscal Policy review which was presented in parliament last week by Finance Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, among other things raised duty on second hand vehicles while imposing a ban on second hand clothing and shoes.
According to ZIMCODD, the mid-term fiscal policy review dismally fails to capture the needs of the people as it did not address most of the people’s expectations.
“The general populace continues to be heavily taxed whilst relaxations are made for corporates where the minister has proposed removal of export tax on un-beneficiated diamonds in retrospect to January 1 2015,” said ZIMCODD in statement.
The people centered movement also blasted the gesture to ban second hand clothing saying this will not ease the economic woes bewildering the country.
“The announcement to ban importation of second-hand clothing and shoes is not going to help the situation, rather it further impoverishes majority in the buying and selling trade. The ban should be matched with resuscitation of the local textile industry and control the influx of substandard Chinese products in the country,” reads the statement.
The social and economic justice movement welcomes the reduction of the wage bill from 80% to below 40% but maintains that trimming the public service is not the answer to reducing the wage bill.
“The debate should focus on broader government spending such as cutting top civil servants allowances, luxury vehicles and skewed procurement system rather than low level civil servants retrenchments,” says the statement.
Moving forward, ZIMCODD calls for a multi-stakeholder involvement in the dialogue to revive the country’s dwindling economy.
“We reiterate the importance of engagement between government, the citizens, the private sector and all relevant agencies to get together and pave the way forward for this country’s economic revival.
“Putting independent minds together has the possibility of unlocking potential and for people to address the challenges facing the Zimbabwean economy and facilitate economic recovery,” the statement said.
