Business Reporter
FINANCE Minister Mthuli Ncube has come head on with tough questions on the ongoing Constitutional Amendment Bill No.3 at the ongoing IMF-World Bank meetings in a development which presents a tough hurdle in efforts to turn around the economy.
The Treasury boss is currently attending Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., where Zimbabwe is seeking support for its debt restructuring plan.
In a surprising twist of events Ncube confirmed facing a reality check when the Press demanded answers on the circumstances around CAB # 3.
“We got one or two enquiries; of course we were happy to explain the steps the Bill will take before it can be passed. We found ourselves having to explain the process of these amendments. There were some who just didn’t understand what was going on, so we had to explain this process,” Ncube told a virtual press conference of local reporters back home.
Zimbabwe is currently under an International Monetary Fund Staff Monitored Program running to December, under which IMF monitors agreed economic targets. It is a key pillar of Zimbabwe’s plan to restructure its debt.
The country is also seeking US$2.5 billion in bridging finance, short-term funding meant to clear arrears to creditors and allow Zimbabwe to normalise relations and access cheaper long-term financing.
Ncube says “we are having conversations with United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France and Algeria” to act as sponsors of the bridge loan.
Responding to concerns over weakening global growth forecasts by institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, Minister Ncube said there was no basis for altering Zimbabwe’s outlook.
“So the question is, why then would we revise the growth downwards if these fundamentals are still in place?” he said. “We still expect growth of at least five percent in 2026. We haven’t revised our growth going forward at all.”
The minister’s confidence is anchored in both retrospective and forward-looking indicators. He revealed that economic performance in 2025 had already exceeded expectations.
“First of all, there is the growth from last year for 2025. It is going to be higher than the 6,6 percent that we projected, because we did better than 6,6 percent, for sure,” he said, adding that official figures would be released soon.
Minister Ncube described the five percent growth target as conservative, particularly given favourable agricultural conditions.
“As you know, the growth rate always responds positively to a good rainy season — in other words, agricultural output,” he said.
“And once agriculture performs, a lot of other sectors that depend on it also do well.”
He pointed to a broad-based expansion, noting that all key sectors — including manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, and tourism — were performing well.
“There is no sector that is not recording positive growth,” Minister Ncube said.
Global risks, including commodity price shocks and inflationary pressures, are not expected to significantly dampen performance.
“We don’t see a big impact from the global shocks coming through oil, fertiliser, food, and inflation generally. These will be fairly well contained,” he said.
