Responding to questions about the worsening cash shortages in the Senate on Thursday, deputy Finance minister Terrence Mukupe said they inherited a bankrupt ministry. He said Tendai Biti who was the finance minister during the Government of National Unity left only $217.
Said Mukupe:
You still remember when we had the Government of National Unity, there used to be talk of ‘eating what you kill’ under the Biti-Gono (former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono) era. What happened during that era was that there was an expansionary credit programme that was put in place. The nice thing is figures do not lie. In January 2013, the former minister of Finance … Biti announced that government had only $217 in its coffers when he left office. He left office with a situation where government had a domestic debt that was running close to $5 billion. What …(Patrick) Chinamasa inherited was basically a bankrupt ministry of Finance where only what was available was debt.
He said the situation led the minister to pay debts using Treasury Bills. When reached for comment by Daily News, Biti dismissed the allegations. The International Monetary Fund has said excessive government spending is worsening cash shortages.
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