Maravi

(NEWZIMBABWE, SAPA, AFP) PM differs with Mugabe on currency

PM differs with Mugabe on currency
by
29/06/2009 00:00:00

ZIMBABWE’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the weekend ruled out reviving in the short term the worthless Zimbabwean dollar scrapped earlier this year to beat world record inflation.

His comments clashed with President Robert Mugabe’s assertions on Friday, highlighting the uneasy relationship between the two former rivals now sharing power in a unity government.

“For economic reasons, there is no way you can resort to the Zimbabwean dollar currency in a situation of low production,” Tsvangirai said in Johannesburg.

“You have to increase your productivity levels from the current 10% to about 50%-60%, otherwise you slide back to... inflation.

“It is impracticable to talk about even resorting to a currency which is worthless at this stage.”
Mugabe said the currency should be revived as multiple currencies introduced this year to beat inflation were not helping the people. “Yes, prices may have gone down but the people should have the money,” the state Herald newspaper quoted him as saying.

“If they don’t have the money, how will they buy the goods? We can’t run a country like that. We are considering changing that and reverting to our own currency.” Sapa-AFP

Labels: MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, MUGABE, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR

posted by MrK @ 7:36 PM