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Mr Busisa-Moyo

Munyaradzi Musiiwa : Midlands Correspondent

LOCAL manufacturing companies have recorded a significant growth in demand for local products by the retail sector following the promulgation and implementation of Statutory Instrument (SI) 64 of 2016, an official has said. Speaking during a round table meeting with captains of the industry and stakeholders in Gweru, Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president Busisa Moyo said local manufacturers have recorded growth in production and increase in demand for local products by the retail sector ranging between 30 to 50 percent.

Mr Moyo said Government through the newly developed Strategic Economic Research and Analysis (SERA) Programme is conducting a survey assessing the impact of support on the local manufacturing industry.

“There is an exercise which is being carried out by SERA assessing the impact of SI64 support to local producers. SERA is carrying out a survey on the benefits of SI64. Some local producers have recorded a significant increase in production and their orders are up by 30 to 50 percent. Researchers are already on the ground,” he said.

Mr Moyo also bemoaned violent protests being orchestrated by opposition political parties and social movements adding that it was retrogressive to production and stifling growth of local industries as well as the ease of doing business.

He said politics should not eclipse economics as the battles that have been raging on were affecting the economy.

“We are tired of violence. Issues of violence are undesirable to us as a country. We acknowledge people are frustrated but we should not express our frustration by burning shops and destroying properties because it is not good for business. People should know that politics does not deliver in certain instances and we should be able to separate politics and economics. Most of the time people are worried about politics and not economics. People are caught up in politics,” he said.

Mr Moyo said local industries should embrace bond notes and support the Government initiative as this will boost production and trade.

He said the introduction of bond notes was not a reintroduction of local currency as has been widely perceived.

Mr Moyo said bond notes were meant to curb externalization of hard currency particularly by informal cross border traders who were also evading paying tax thereby robbing Government of potential revenue.

“There has been a misconception that the coming of the bond notes was a way of reintroducing the Zimbabwean dollar.

“The amount and the denominations that is coming clearly shows that it is not going to make much difference in the manner in which we have been trading.

“We have embraced multi-currency system and we should embrace it in the same manner that we have adopted the South African rand,” he said.