@FinxZim promoter. Incubating @TheAnchorZim. Ex & Founding Editor of Business Weekly & Business Times. Paper No. 3 is possible. Went to school on pension money!
The economy did boom in the first five years, thanks to the removal of sanctions and the creative use of the old marketing boards that now moved into the communal lands.
But there were a number of very severe stresses and problems that were not addressed.
First Zimbabwe had inherited Ian Smith’s tightly controlled economy with every dollar of export earnings assigned to an import by central authority.
What was the state of the economy?
-By the beginning of November 1997, nearly 100 job actions had taken place in the country due to rising costs of food, business closures and a shrinking fiscus.
Turnall and Cottco listed on the Stock Exchange
And the background?
Inflation increased from 11.6% in 1985 to 32.6% in 1996, falling to 25% by 1997. Real wages had fallen by nearly 25% and employment growth declined from an index of 2.4 to 1.5. Poverty levels had increased from 40.4% in 1990/91 to 63% in 1996.
