Zimbabwe's economy is experiencing its longest period of stability since the advent of the Second Republic, but the private sector has continued to raise concerns over economic performance, a senior government official has said.
Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Permanent Secretary Mr George Guvamatanga made the remarks while delivering key takeaways from the Zimbabwe Economic Development Conference (ZEDCON) in Bulawayo.
"Starting with macro-economic growth and stability, since the coming in of the Second Republic, Honourable Minister, the economy has recorded its longest streak if I may put it that way of uninterrupted stability since the measures Government took in September of 2024," he said.
"That was on the 25th of September 2024, and so we are just a week away from actually having, again and I repeat uninterrupted stability, which is quite a very remarkable achievement."
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Mr Guvamatanga, however, noted that despite the macroeconomic progress, industry has remained vocal in expressing concerns over business performance.
"But notwithstanding that, this is the loudest period we have heard of complaints from industry that the economy needs a quick reshape, that the economy is not doing well, and that they are not doing very well with their businesses which is quite a complete opposite, because we would have actually expected business to be celebrating," he said.
The Permanent Secretary said he takes a personal interest in understanding the actual performance of the private sector by studying published company results.
"What is interesting is that I do take time so that I can understand what is happening in industry.
"When all companies release their results, I go through the results always to also get directions in terms of issues that will need addressing, issues that will affect companies' performance," he said.
"But what surprises me, you get to the top of the chairman's comments and the managing director's comments, and you hear that the volumes of the company, they have grown they have gone up."
He said this growth in volumes suggests increased consumer spending power.
"So there is a difference, because when a company's volumes are growing, it actually reflects that there are more people with cash in their pockets that are actually spending on that particular company's product," said Mr Guvamatanga.
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Turning to ZEDCON 2025, Mr Guvamatanga said the primary objective of the conference is to promote high-level, evidence-based dialogue that will inform sound policy formulation and implementation.
"The ZEDCON discussions are structured around six critical pillars: macro-economic growth and stability, informal sector growth and resource mobilisation, technology, digital and artificial intelligence interventions, diaspora investment framework and policies, regional integration, and infrastructure development," he said.
