Story by Owen Mandovha
BUSINESS owners and captains of industry have described the government’s move to extend the multi-currency regime as a major boost for business confidence in the economy.
The 2023 Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) Business Review Conference held in Harare this Monday was mainly a post-mortem of the challenges and opportunities encountered by the business community in 2023.
University of Zimbabwe lecturer and leading researcher, Professor Albert Makochekanwa presented the 2023 State of Industry and Commerce Survey Results assessing how government policies are impacting business confidence.
“Our research confirmed that there was a lot of uncertainty around the extension of the multi-currency regime which was supposed to end in 2023 and when the Government clarified that it was going to extend the multi-currency regime there was a boost in business confidence.
However several issues were raised which continue to affect business and these include power cuts, poor road infrastructure and high cost of compliance in some cases.”
ZNCC President, Mr Mike Kamungeremu said there are many positives from the latest survey results.
“Industry appreciates the efforts being done by the Government to sustain their operations and the Survey confirmed issues that are affecting smooth business operations. It is important to note that there has been generally a rise in confidence over the years but the informal sector has also been growing meaning that the Government needs to deal with other malfunctions in our economy.”
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Governor, Dr John Mangudya underscored the importance of sustaining price and currency stability towards building business confidence.
Panel experts at the conference concurred that government needs to continue to deal with overarching macroeconomic fundamentals such as public debt and exchange rate management so as to create a long-term stable economic operating environment.
