In this latest measure the finance minister is promising civil servants the following:

Monetary Benefits

First on the list is a 20 percent increase in the Zimbabwean dollar salary component backdated to the 1^st of January 2022. This means is one was earning 10 000 rtgs they will now be earning 12 000 rtgs.

The government has also added 100USD per month in hard currency to every civil servant with effect from the 1^st of March 2022. This will be done through conversion of a corresponding Zimbabwe dollar salary amount into hard currency, bringing the foreign currency amount to 175USD.

Teacher unions last week declared that their members would only resume duties after their employer had acceded to their demand for the pre-October 2018 salary of US$520 or its equivalent in local currency. The offer made by the government is far off from this request.

Non-Monetary Benefits

The government has offered to pay school fees for up to 3 biological children per teaching family, with a cap of 20 000 rtgs per child per term. The fees are to be paid directly to the school. Does this mean that if one is a teacher and looking after children of a deceased family member, those children will not get their fees paid?

The government has also promised to construct 34 000 housing units (2 125 block flats) over a five-year period as institutional accommodation including critical amenities, for teachers within the school premises. This is a way of cutting off transportation as teachers will have no excuses to not be at work.

The provision of transportation to ferry rural and urban teachers is on the list.

The most interesting offers so far are housing loan guarantee schemes and that teachers are to import vehicles duty free. The imported vehicles are not to be disposed of “before the expiry of three years”. This means that if a teacher imports a vehicle they cannot sell the vehicle for the next three years. Firstly, we that know they have increased the salaries of teachers, but is it enough for teachers to get housing loans and import vehicles? Is it even enough to pay rent and buy fuel?

The offers made by government look appealing. They are not entirely what the teachers union asked for (which is 520USD). Besides the 20 percent increase, school fees benefit, 100USD, and transport facility, the rest of the benefits are long term. How does getting a flat after five years help a teacher that is struggling to pay rent now?

Whether the offer made by government will be effective remains unseen. Will these efforts be enough  to appease the civil servants?

The post Mthuli Dangles Perks For Teachers And Civil Servants, But Is It Enough? appeared first on Provoker Magazine.

The measures are expected to boost domestic use of local currency. Prof Ncube said all mining royalties are now payable in Zimbabwe dollars up to a limit of 50 percent of the royalties due.

All duties and taxes on the importation of designated motor vehicles are now payable in Zim dollars up to a limit of 50 per cent of duties and taxes payable.This means that 50 percent of the fees are payable in USD and the other 50 percent in local currency.

Exporters have been paying their taxes in foreign currency and this move will encourage importation of more vehicles.

The post Good News For Car Importers As 50% Duty Now Payable In Zimbabwean Dollar appeared first on Provoker Magazine.

The current state of the Zimbabwean economy is no secret. From an almost inexplicable 1:1 bond note to USD exchange rate to 200:1 +, this is just one of the tell tale signs of an unstable economy. A couple of moves have been made by the government and looking back, its now adding up.

Now you are probably thinking of all those times Zimbabwe’s economy analysts and other reputable sources stated that Zimbabwean was headed towards greener pastures. Eddie Cross issued a statement going in depth on how the economy of Zimbabwe was positioned in a way that it was finally set for stability. The International Monetary Fund  (IMF) seemed to back up those statements stating that Zimbabwe’s economy was set to grow more than they had previously reported. All this was said just last year.

On the contrary, other reputable media sources (Bloomberg among others) shared detailed articles of the Zimbabwean economy stating that it was on the verge of collapsing.

So what’s the real deal?

Well, lets take a look on the ground.

Some of the steps taken by government to date

The government has announced various measures from the time the statements on the economy being headed in the right direction were made to date. Now, looking carefully at how far we have come, the economy seems further from the “stability” that has been spoken about.

Here are some of the events that have taken place thus far that we will soon dissect to get a clear position on where we are as a country.

• Mthuli Ncube announces 50% duty on car imports is payable in Zim dollars.
• Announcement of $50 withdrawal at bank rate for Zimbabweans
• $50 withdrawal for general public halted

Other policy changes were stated in the 2022 Monetary Policy.

Complete 2022 Monetary Policy – DOWNLOAD HERE

A sign of a crumbling economy?

The aforementioned are just but a few measures taken by the government between 2021 and 2022. However, why did retractions or alterations have to be made on previously established policies? While changes are allowed, in our case this could be the tell tale sign of a plummeting economy.

Why?

For starters, before the announcement on duties on car import being payable in Zim dollars consider the prevailing situation. ZIMRA was experiences a huge decline in revenue coming in from vehicle imports due to high duty fees. So…no/not as much money as before. A change had to be made, right? If at least half the duty fees is payable in Zim dollar that seems incentive enough for more car imports to take place and more (seemingly much needed) money flows in.

How about the $50 withdrawal at bank rate which has now been reserved for pensioners, senior citizens and vulnerable members of society? Is it possible that in addition to the government trying to limit the people profiting from the arrangement, there also just could be less money available to continue providing the $50 withdrawal limit to the public? Could that be the same reasoning that might have lead to the further limits on mobile money transactions?

The Zim dollar continues to deplete against the USD. However, reports from local based media continue to point to a growing Zimbabwean economy so we might not get to the point where our currency is exhibited in British museums again, right?

The post New Monetary Policy: Tell Tale Signs That The Zimbabwean Economy Is In Shambles? (breaking down Monetary Policy 2022) appeared first on Provoker Magazine.

The budget which was said to be “people centered” has not pleased many including the former minister of Finance Tendai Biti. Various grievances have arose following this 2022 national budget.

You can download the complete 2022 National Budget PDF below.

The post Download 2022 National Budget. PDF appeared first on Provoker Magazine.

2022 National Budget 

The minister of Finance yesterday announced a $$927,3 billion budget which various publications and officials have called “lifeless.” Contrarily, publications such as the Herald have labelled this budget as “people centred.”

In his budget presentation, Mthuli Ncube drew attention to the tax burden that was being faced by low income earners. Resultantly the tax bracket was adjusted. Ncube stated:

“In order to provide relief to taxpayers and also boost aggregate demand for goods and services, I propose to adjust the tax-free threshold from $10 000 to $25 000 and also adjust the tax bands to end at $500 000, above which a marginal tax rate of 40% will apply with effect from January 1, 2022.” 

You can download the full budget here.

Criticism of The 2022 National Budget

The Progressive Teachers Union Zimbabwe (PTUZ) General Secretary Raymond Majongwe lamented over this national budget stating that it did not take into account the teachers and the challenges they face. He commented the following:

Former Finance Minister, Tendai Biti also had some sentiments of his own to shared with regards to the 2022 National Budget. Biti dismissed the budget as “ritualistic formality bereft of substance”. This is as a result of its failure to take into consideration  exchange rate distortions and structural challenges around the free-falling local currency.

What do you think of the 2022 National Budget?

The post National Budget: “There is nothing for us in this budget” cries teachers’ union appeared first on Provoker Magazine.

Th nine were released under the cover of darkness, which is ironic because most releases take place during the day.

Full Statement from ZLHR below;

MIDNIGHT RELEASE FOR WAR VETERANS PERSECUTED OVER “BREAD CRUMBS” PROTEST

ZIMBABWEAN police on Friday 27 August 2021 set free nine liberation war veterans whom they had arrested and detained for allegedly protesting against low pension payouts.

The liberation war veterans, who were arrested on Wednesday 25 August 2021 by Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers, were charged with participating in a gathering with intent to promote public violence, breaches of peace or bigotry as defined in section 37(1)(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.

ZRP officers accused them of staging a protest on Wednesday 25 August 2021 outside Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube’s offices in Harare, where they held placards inscribed “Pay war veterans they deserve please we are human beings. #Mthuli we are tired of bread crumbs like Lazurus.”

The nine liberation war veterans namely Isso Madzivanyika, Nyasha Manyana, Daphne Kanoti, Shoorai Nyamangodo, Faith Chamanda, Ruvimbo Sphyina Maphosa, Jordan Nderezina, Maron Mabvunzaneyi Mazikana and Wonderful Sabarauta were expected to appear in court on Friday 27 August 2021.

However, ZRP officers released the liberation war veterans around midnight and advised their lawyer Paidamoyo Saurombe of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and Chawona Kanoti of Kanoti and Partners that they will contact them if they want to pursue with prosecuting them.

The post Protesting War Veterans released from custody during the night appeared first on Provoker Magazine.

Speaking to journalists in Bulawayo, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube pointed out that the remittances received in all of 2020 amounted to US$1 billion.

The minister further attributed the massive inflow of cash from Zimbabwe’s diaspora to the use of formal channels of sending money. These channels remained operational during Covid-19.

Remittances are said to be on the rise in other African countries as well. Leader of the African  Diaspora Global Network, based in South Africa, Vusumuzi Sibanda applauded diasporans all over. He had the following to say:

“Most of the households now have at least one sibling or relative in the diaspora, and as a sign of Ubuntu, they have to send help back home. They have to because the Zimbabwean economy is harsh for locals, which is the reason why people seek greener pastures elsewhere.”

While it is noteworthy that Zimbabweans are working hard to support their families. The families dependence on their funds reflects negatively on the economy and also means that diasporans have to work several jobs just to make ends meet.

However, this goes hand in hand with the diasporans resolve to assist Zimbabweans last month which we discussed in a previous article.

What are your thoughts?

Let us know in the comment section below.

The post Zimbabwe received a staggering US$1 billion from diasporans in 2020 appeared first on Provoker Magazine.

The then established bank withdrawal limiting was placed at $2000. This limit was therefore unsatisfactory to a number of citizens who wanted the weekly limit to be reviewed. Unfortunately this was declined.

In senate on Thursday, Mthuli Ncube, Finance Minster, shared the following sentiments:

“The issue about regulating access to cash was triggered by the abuse that we had seen taking place from the use of the mobile banking platform in terms of electronic money.

We realize that it is necessary to restrict the cash withdrawals, the amounts that can be used at any point in time and be transferred at any point in time.

This is necessary for us to keep those restrictions in place as a general policy. If we loosen up on that, it will cause a lot of difficulties and basically, we will go back to where we were before, where individuals will access larger amounts of cash and then want to trade in the parallel market and just make our currency more unstable”

This decision is said to have been made as a way for government to keep the country’s currency stable.

Mthuli Ncube pointed out that the currency is currently trading at about $84 to 1US$. Some compare this to the $1 to US$1 rate that once was, not mentioning the drastic fluctuations in between, and point out that the currency was never stable to begin with. This point appears to highlight that the governments efforts to stabilize the currency seem futile.

Nonetheless, RBZ Governor, John Mangudya, shared his sentiments on the issue of not increasing bank withdrawal limits. He said that the country’s efforts in stabilizing financial system require team effort by all Zimbabweans and a willingness to comply with given mandates.

What about authorized dealers?

He said the following:

“The Bank’s Exchange Control Inspectorate and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) have enhanced their monitoring and surveillance on the utilisation of foreign exchange in the market to foster market discipline.

Banks and mobile banking institutions are obliged to ensure that the Know Your Customer (KYC) and Customer Due Diligence (CDD) principles are complied with at all times.

In essence, FIU will continue to ensure that authorized dealers or banks and foreign exchange auction system participants comply with auction rules and regulations to stop the abuse of such financial systems.

What are your thoughts on this matter?

Let us know in the comment section below

The post Mthuli Ncube addresses increase in bank withdrawal limit appeared first on Provoker Magazine.

Writing on his Facebook the clergyman implored Zimbabweans in the diaspora to invest in Zimbabwe.

You can read his full statement below;

At the STATEHOUSE with Finance Minister, Mthuli Ncube, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, John Mangudya, Businessman & Former Professional Footballer Dexter Blackstock (Nottingham Forest, Leeds , QPR etc) and some of the investors after meeting His Excellency, President Mnangagwa. Had four meetings after that and managed to expedite the process under this second republic which carries a mantra ZIMBABWE IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS. The investors were very happy about the experience and the fruitful meetings. More arriving … we are hitting the ground running and if you are a Zimbabwean in the diaspora get in touch @ambassadoruebertangel & invest in your country- your country has enough of what the world needs!

Is the Ambassador doing a good job?

The post Ambassador Prophet Uebert Angel hits the ground running appeared first on Provoker Magazine.

The IMF says Zimbabwe will register a negative economic growth of -5.2% in 2019, that means Zimbabwe is officially in a recession, for the first time since 2008.

The IMF had initially predicted a 4.2% economic growth in October 2018, but on the flipside the Zimbabwean economy is expected to grow by 3.3% in 2020.

Zimbabwe Finance Minister has predicted a 3.1% growth of the economy in 2019.

Basically what this means for ordinary Zimbabweans is tat life will be very difficult this year with unemployment figures expected to increase, and just like in 2008 inflation, and more.

Price hikes are contributing to the recession according to economists.

The post Zimbabwe’s Economy is Shrinking says IMF appeared first on Provoker Magazine.