WHEN STATISTICS ARE MADE TO LIE !!!

The latest release of the National Accounts estimates has revised down its forecasts for GDP growth at market prices to 3.8%, lower than the 3.9% growth forecasted in September 2018. Gross Value added at basic prices would grow by 3.6% instead of 3.7% as forecasted in September 2018. 

The Regulatory Sandbox: Some issues !

(Published in MTimes 21 December 2018)

In its move onto the Fintech journey, this year Government had budgeted plans to set up a National Regulatory Sandbox Licence Committee to consider all issues relating to Sandbox licencing for Fintech activities.

Debt Market Development:

(Published in MTimes 14 December 2018)

Policies to support development of a government securities market.

Several measures have already been taken towards providing the basis for a deeper government debt market like improving the government’s cash balances forecast, publishing an issue calendar and information about post auction results, issuance of securities in key benchmark maturities and using the same instrument for both the Treasury’s funding operations and the central bank’s monetary policy operations to avoid market fragmentation.

Failure to Redress the Export Sector

(Published in MTimes 14 December 2018)

It was a rude awakening for the new government that took power in December 2014. Growth was sub-par, investments were floundering, saving was at rock-bottom but it was in the external sector that the situation was more serious. Excluding transactions of GBCs, the current account deficit was at 12.8% of GDP in 2014. This was much higher than the 9% allowed by SADC macroeconomic convergence targets.

Promoting Public Sector Governance

(Published  in MTimes 07 12 2018)

Governance matters. Government lays the foundation, Government sets the framework but good governance cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be constantly nurtured, inculcated, advocated and goaded if we want to reap its benefits. This government does not seem to believe in good governance and we should not be surprised that we have reached such levels of “satisfactory underperformance” of  State Owned Enterprises(SOEs) –institutions that are not held fully accountable for their performance. SIFB,IBA, SIC, MBC….you name it and you will come up  every week with a new one joining the long list of defaulters and under-performers.

A Delivery Unit at the PMO

(Published in Mtimes 07 12 2018)

Back in 2012, The World Bank’s Public Sector Performance-Development Policy Loan- (WB-DPL 2012) had highlighted that “...the fact that delays often occur in the implementation of planned public investment projects can be seen in the low levels of actual expenditure of the capital budget. This highlights not only that financial resources are inadequate but also that there is inadequate institutional and human capacity to implement these infrastructure projects in the short term.”  Capital spending has been averaging a dismal 2.6% of GDP annually under the previous regime.