We Need A Social Package To Flatten The Poverty Curve - Biti Talks The Economy, Poverty And The Govt's COVID-19 Stimulus Package

Former finance minister and MDC Alliance Vice President Tendai Biti while speaking to The Zimbabwe Independent said he government’s $18 billion economic stimulus package was a pie in the sky as the government was not collecting revenue during the lockdown.

Said the MDC Alliance VP:

It is a fictitious package because government does not have ZW$18 billion. As a matter of fact, since the lockdown on March 30, this government has hardly collected any revenue because companies have been shut down. So that ZW$18 billion is hot air. So you cannot distribute hot air. You are not God,

Biti also said the country needed a social package to help citizens transition out of the lockdown:

So, it’s pie in the sky. We do need a package, a social package, to flatten the poverty curve. In my submission, this government, by hook and by crook, must find US$500 million which it should channel towards social safety nets. This would entail the provision of food to the people, provision of cash handouts to people during the period of the pandemic.

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The former treasury boss outlined how the government could help businesses and citizens transition out of the lockdown that grounded the country for over 2 months:

We also need a business intervention a fiscal bailout. I would argue that at least another US$500 million. So all in all you need US$1 billion; US$500 million to flatten the poverty curve and US$500 million to flatten the business curve. In essence, you want to deal with three issues, namely Covid-19, the disease, poverty and you want to deal with the economy by stimulating productivity.

This money must be part of the transition bailout because we are now transitioning out of Covid-19. We have to be alive to the fact that Covid-19 is going to be with us, just like the flu virus is with us. It is not going away. So we must find ways of exiting in order to prevent the rise of second spikes of the virus. How do we build resilience going forward? Building resilience requires a functional and sustainable state.

Biti also spoke about the call for humanitarian aid by the government to the international community and said:

imbabwe got US$7 million from the WB; other countries are getting US$450 million. So it’s a question of credibility. Mnangagwa does not have credibility. That is the problem.

We have made calls for humanitarian assistance for our country, but that assistance must not go through the government of Zimbabwe because it steals

More: The Zimbabwe Independent