Thread by @OpenParlyZw

MASHAKADA: YOU CANT CELEBRATE SURPLUS WHEN IN POVERTY

HON. TAPIWA MASHAKADA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I wish to first start by thanking the Leader of the Opposition, Dr Khupe who set the record and raised the bar as she delivered her maiden speech in response to the SONA.

HON. MASHAKADA: I think she raised very pertinent issues, some of which I will not touch on because I might messy the good work that she did especially her clear statement on sanctions and other policy measures.

HON. MASHAKADA: Madam Speaker, I want to touch on a few issues by way of complementing Government and these issues came out clearly when the SONA was being presented.

HON. MASHAKADA: I come from Masvingo and I am pleased to also acknowledge that a lot of developments are happening on the Chirundu – Beitbridge Road. I think that is a positive development given the role infrastructure plays in the economy.

HON. MASHAKADA: Madam Speaker, a road is an economy. This road carries Zimbabwe. This road supports the north to south corridor. It takes volumes of imports and exports, bound not only for Zimbabwe, but for Zambia, Tanzania, DRC, Kenya and so on and so forth.

HON. MASHAKADA: Its a very critical road which needs to be fixed. The state of Masvingo highway has been pathetic for many years & has been a death trap. So when resources are used to develop the country & build roads, especially our trade route, we must appreciate very honestly

HON. MASHAKADA: I also note there are a lot of developments taking place in the energy sector. This country is moving towards energy self-sufficiency. If you listen to SONA report, I think there are possibilities that we might be a net exporter of energy in near distant future.

HON. MASHAKADA: This has taken the right direction if we achieve the 6 000 mega watts from our power stations. I thought I should highlight those two things which emerged from the SONA. I also want to touch on the Global Compensation Deed.

HON. MASHAKADA: It is common cause that Government has finally realised the importance of compensating erstwhile commercial farmers for the developments that they made on the land. This is not compensating for the soil but for the developments that were made on the land.

HON. MASHAKADA: This is what we have been saying all along as the opposition that land must not be compensated but the development must be compensated. We fought very hard during the Constitution making process to make sure that compensation is included in the new Constitution.

HON. MASHAKADA: I am happy that the 2013 Constitution recognises this issue of compensation but one thing which compensation does now is sending a great message to the Government of Zimbabwe.

HON. MASHAKADA: A message of respecting rights, whether they are property rights as in this case with this Global Compensation Deed, labour rights, human rights or political rights. Those must be respected by the State. Rights are indivisible.

HON. MASHAKADA: Here, we are talking about property rights but let us extend these rights that must be protected across the divide. A right must be protected and upheld in all their dimensions. Properties that were covered by BIPPAS had been appropriated.

HON. MASHAKADA: Land that was covered by international treaties had been appropriated but I am happy that this has now been recognised. My message is that whilst you are recognising the sanctity of property rights, let us also uphold all other rights in their entirety,

HON. MASHAKADA: including the right to demonstrate, organised by trade unions and to strike. Those are fundamental rights that should be upheld in this country. We cannot be seen as a country which does not recognise rights in their entirety.

HON. MASHAKADA: Madam Speaker, I now come to the Transitional Stabilisation Programme and I must explain this very clear and explain what stabilisation means because a lot of people are saying things are now stable but we have to ensure it is a qualified stability.

HON. MASHAKADA:If I was an auditor I would issue a qualified opinion on economic stability. Why am I saying we must qualify stability that's often founded about? When we talk of macro-economic stability, we looking at 4 things; budget deficit, inflation, GDP growth &exchange rate

HON. MASHAKADA: Now, we are celebrating stability because Government managed to reduce the budget deficit, fair and fine. We need to balance our books but like I said, we have to qualify this balance.

HON. MASHAKADA: You cannot celebrate a surplus amidst poverty, joblessness, when hospitals have no drugs, nurses are on strike, doctors are not adequately paid, teachers are not going to work and the children are out of school.

HON. MASHAKADA: These are qualitative socio-economic issues that you have to balance, not just the matrix because development is not about just matrix or number crunching. It is also about what is behind those numbers in terms of the quality of life of the people.

HON. MASHAKADA: So, whereas the books have been balanced, it has happened at a very huge socio-economic and humanitarian cost. I think in the development discourse, we must place the people at the centre of our development trajectory, not numbers and figures.

HON. MASHAKADA: When we talk of stability and referring to the surplus, let us qualify it and take into account these other issues. The second indicator of stability in the TSP is the inflation. I hear everyone saying prices have stabilised and so on.

HON. MASHAKADA: Madam Speaker, I must put it on record that Zimbabwe’s inflation is hyper-inflation. So, we cannot celebrate stabilising at a hyper-inflationary level and what do I mean by hyper-inflation?

HON. MASHAKADA: According to international financial statistics and definitions, any rate of inflation which is above 50% is called hyper inflation. So, when our inflation is still in the region of 400/430%, we are over and above 50%. We are just in a hyper-inflationary mode.

HON. MASHAKADA: So, yes we can celebrate that prices have stabilised but we are still in a hyper- inflation situation. We need to work hard to make sure that we reduce inflation to a single digit figure from the 400s and so on.

HON. MASHAKADA: That is when we can celebrate the stability of prices when we reign in hyper- inflation to below 50% and we eradicate hyper inflation. The other measure of stability and I am talking of stability because it has been referred to in the SONA.

HON. MASHAKADA: The other measure of stability is growth. You cannot have stability when the economy is registering a negative growth rate. If there is no productivity in agriculture, mining, manufacturing and even tourism, it means you are not able to grow the cake.

HON. MASHAKADA: The cake is growing a negative rate. Therefore, it is compromising your ability to provide for the nation because you cannot collect enough revenue from a shrinking economic base.

HON. MASHAKADA: Whereas you can say the deficit is alright or inflation is stabilised, but the economy is not growing and growth is the basis for sustainable macro-economic stability. Let us grow the economy.

HON. MASHAKADA: Let us attract FDI. Let us promote domestic investment. Let us do everything in our power to make sure that the economy is ticking – it grows. If you go to Bulawayo now, you will see that factories are still closed.

HON. MASHAKADA: If you go to the Midlands, ZISCO Steel is still closed. Mutare, Harare – Coventry, Birmingham area; factories are still closed. The day these factories are going to be open, that is the day we are said to be working on our growth, production and productivity.

HON. MASHAKADA: That will give us a sustainable stability in the economy. So far this stability is shaky or hazy because it is not backed by production or productivity. The other objective of the TSP was to eradicate the trade deficit.

HON. MASHAKADA: The trade deficit arises between the ratio of exports and imports, and I must say the gap is narrowing. Our exports are catching up with our imports gradually and that is a positive trajectory.

HON. MASHAKADA: I hope we can continue to implement policies that will promote more exports into the region and beyond so that we can maximise on the opportunities presented by the ACFTA by way of developing our markets and exploiting the supply value chains in the trade sector.

HON. MASHAKADA; The balance of payment is also very critical when we talk of stability and in this relation, the current account balance is improving quite gradually and that is positive.

HON. MASHAKADA: You know that when you talk about the external sector, you are not only talking about the current account balance; you are also talking about the capital account. The capital account is very sensitive to political stability and confidence issues.

HON. MASHAKADA: Capital inflows are erratic at the present moment because we are still considered an unsafe destination. Our sovereign risk is still very high. We need to work on our sovereign risk so that we can have capital flowing back into the Southern African country.

HON. MASHAKADA: If we do not work on our perceived sovereign risk, we are not going to get enough capital flows. In other countries in the region, they do ratings. They take standards and pull ratings.

HON. MASHAKADA: They take Moody’s as ratings for their economy and investors take those ratings very seriously. In our case, we are not subjected to ratings. It is only our sovereign risk which is at stake.

HON. MASHAKADA; If we improve our sovereign rate, we can be able to improve on portfolio investments, FDI investments and other inflows that come into the country; that will boost our capacity to ratchet up economic activity to stimulate economic activity.

HON. MASHAKADA: In the SONA, the President also touched on the economic stimulus package; the 18.3 billion economic stimulus package. We must see the results of that economic stimulus package on the ground. So far, there is nothing to show for that economic stimulus package.

HON. MASHAKADA: The results are not yet tangible for us to see the post COVID stimulation package that was put in place by the Minister. I do not know the implementation mechanism, but I have not seen the impact of the stimulus package.

HON. MASHAKADA: There is no supply response in the manufacturing sector or other sectors. We are yet to see the impact of the 18.3 billion stimulus package and I urge the Minister to work hard to make sure that the package gets traction and gets results.

HON. MASHAKADA: Having said that, we in the Opposition are worried by the fact that these economic policies are being formulated and implemented without the participation of stakeholders. The Ministry of Finance is just sitting on its own. I sit in the Budget Committee.

HON. MASHAKADA: Yesterday we were actually complaining that we dont know anything about formulation of TSP. We were not consulted on the formulation of the successor program which is the National Development Strategy.

TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you are left with 5 minutes.

HON. MASHAKADA: If policies are made and the stakeholders are not consulted, it is not good for the country because these policies are made for the people. The trade unions were not consulted. We are a labour backed party which is pro-poor.

HON. MASHAKADA: We get concerned if the trade unions are not consulted when these policies are being formulated. We get concerned when the civil society is not consulted.

HON. MASHAKADA: We get concerned as an official Opposition Party if we are not consulted; when the NDS and the TSP are pronounced and developed because we will have no option but to attack those policies because we have not been part and parcel of their formulation.

HON. MASHAKADA: I want to urge the Minister of Finance and Government as a whole to adopt a participatory and consultative approach so that all stakeholders are consulted in the formulation of economic policies for Zimbabwe.

HON. MASHAKADA: That is the only way to make sure that even the forth coming Budget will be pro-poor and development oriented. I will not say much today. I would like to thank you for the opportunity that you have given me