Zimbabwe Business Watch : Week 6
The prospect of another election looms and for the business community, in theory it would be the difference from a militarised dictatorship and a free enterprise economy with social responsibility. In reality, however, the prospect is more of the same and worse as, unless there is political credibility, the economic meltdown cannot be reversed by market driven policies and initiatives. As we speak, the assault on business using fear and intimidation continues as the authorities continue to defy gravity and shift the emphasis more and more from economics to politics.
Quite clearly the blame campaign is intensifying as the election nears and all companies are in the firing line. After all, it is them that are responsible for inflation, shortages, and the failed economy! To illustrate this, the RBZ has issued lists of businesses to the C.I.D fraud squad to target in an attempt to publicly blame certain companies. Further to this, the RBZ itself, through its proxy, the Price and Incomes Commission, have been rounding up business leaders demanding information on foreign currency in a foolish endeavour to force down the rate of exchange. This is done with little respect and the C.I.D operations include threats of detention to extract information.
The stock exchange continues to suffer and there is a huge discrepancy between the various rates of exchange by source and by currency. Despite the introduction of bigger denomination bearer cheques, the cash squeeze is on again.
