Maravi

(HERALD) Gono didn’t destroy Zimdollar, economy

Gono didn’t destroy Zimdollar, economy
I. Mukucha

EDITOR — The letter by Bayai Phiri (The Herald, August 26, 2009) cannot go unchallenged. First of all, it must be clarified that Dr Gono did not call for a reckless return to uncontrolled printing of the Zimdollar; this is why he advocated that money supply must be linked to and controlled by tangibles such as mineral wealth.

Furthermore, he proposed that instead of having just the RBZ alone, transparency must be ensured by bringing in independent bodies and individuals. Bringing back the Zimdollar does not mean banning the other currencies because it would be co-circulating with the rest.

Secondly, I implore Zimbabweans not to fall into the Western propaganda trap that would have us believe that Dr Gono single-handedly destroyed the dollar and the economy.

In fact, what happened with the economy in the past, especially last year, clearly showed that there were other dark forces at play.

For example, what really led to such rampant speculative behaviour?

Who/what led to the "burning" phenomenon, or the rogue performance by the ZSE?

What about those who promised to make our economy "scream" with sanctions?

And what did they mean by that?

Thirdly, it’s crucial that we be very frank with ourselves.

What we are deluding ourselves with as economic stability/recovery is unfortunately hinged on CONSUMPTION.

Yes, as Phiri correctly points out, "in supermarkets we mainly see imported products", but the reality is that most of the money we spend in the various shops mushrooming all over the place ends up in South Africa, Botswana, etc for restocking.

Meanwhile, our own industry, which should underpin true economic recovery, remains very depressed. Apart from retail, all other sectors like agriculture, banking, manufacturing, etc are groaning.

Finally, it’s simply not true, as Phiri tries to convince us, that "teachers, nurses, doctors, cleaners, etc, are better off now . . ."

If that were so, why the spate of strikes and general disgruntlement among the workforce?

Again, Phiri is not correct when he alleges that forex is "freely flowing to Zimra, RBZ and the banks".

The cold, naked truth is that banks have actually retrenched staff and are basically not offering loans because the market is illiquid. If Zimra, the main revenue collection arm of Government were awash with money then civil servants would get decent salaries.

I. Mukucha.

Bulawayo.

Labels: COLOUR REVOLUTIONS, GIDEON GONO, NEOCOLONIALISM, SANCTIONS, ZDERA, ZIMBABWE DOLLAR

posted by MrK @ 11:10 PM