PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has slammed Finance Minister Tendai Biti’s stewardship of the economy claiming he was slowing down recovery by making questionable decisions.
Zimbabwe is emerging from a decade-long recession and has recorded positive growth since the coalition government was formed in 2009.
Biti has projected more than 9 percent growth this year But Mugabe said treasury was worsening the impact of sanctions imposed by the West through poor decision making.
The Zanu PF leader was particularly critical of Biti’s use of a US$500 million Special Drawing Rights facility made available to the country in 2009 by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“You have the Minister of Finance and you give the Minister of Finance some autonomy. He makes some decisions and those decisions are not always of a nature that is promotive, economically,” Mugabe said in an interview with the Sunday Mail.
"You take the fact that, for example, we had over US$500 million in SDRs. He just sat on them.
“Instead of using that money to bolster up the economy, inject it into companies that needed finance for raw materials or spare parts so that they could be more productive, he just sat on them."
Biti withdrew US$50 million from the facility in December 2009 and another US$100 million in February 2010.
Last month treasury withdrew another US$110 million to help ease a biting cash crisis but Biti warned that the country should resist using-up the facility arguing this would only worsen already unsustainable debt levels.
"Our sovereign debt is $9.1 billion. It is not wise to further contract any sovereign debt," he said.
But Mugabe said the facility should instead be used to support the country’s productive sectors.
"He (Biti) said (the fund was) for balance of payment, but balance of payment is the battle between exports and imports.
“If imports dominate exports, then you are in trouble and you do not hope that by using SDRs you are curing the problem; the deficit in an effective way, no.
"Inject what money you have into production. Boost your exports and then you are taking care of your imports. You can do both, of course, if you are able to."
Mugabe also said he wanted to see treasury providing more support for the country’s key agricultural sector.
"Farmers are always ready, raring to go. But we fail them. They do not have inputs, even where they have the money,” he said.
“Just imagine - they could not get fertiliser for two reasons: fertiliser was scarce and where it was available, they did not have money to purchase it. Why? Because their money was locked up in deliveries of maize and wheat that have not been paid for by the Minister of Finance.
"You have maize that was grown last year that was (only) paid for partially. All the wheat of last year has not been paid for. We do not proceed like that in Zanu PF."