By Chantelle Muzanenhamo
Harare, July 10 — Zimbabwe has declared itself the fifth-largest economy in Southern Africa, citing a rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$44.4 billion and an anticipated per capita income of US$3,000 by 2025. However, former Finance Minister Tendai Biti dismissed these claims as “fraudulent political ritual,” arguing they are disconnected from the hardships faced by ordinary Zimbabweans.
The government’s GDP revision increased Zimbabwe’s economy from US$35.2 billion to US$44.4 billion, incorporating informal sector activities and previously unrecorded businesses. The move was described by officials as an overdue adjustment aimed at providing a more accurate economic picture.
But Biti, an outspoken critic of the government’s economic policies, took to social media to condemn the figures.
On X (formerly Twitter) on July 10, he wrote, “It is clear as a pike staff that the present rebasing of Zim economy to $44.3 b is a fraudulent political ritual done outside science & data.” He further accused the government of “justifying the myth & fiction that Zim is on course to achieve upper middle-income status by 2030.”
Biti argued that the claims of a rising GNI and per capita income were misleading and insulting to millions of Zimbabweans suffering from poverty, hunger, unemployment, and collapsing health services.
“To suggest that their lot has improved in the last 5 years is a gross insult,” he stated.
He also questioned the validity of claims that US$1.5 billion had been discovered in “unaccounted pockets” of the economy, dismissing it as “fantasy.” Biti claimed the economy is in decline, burdened by corruption, mismanagement, and ongoing crises.
In response, Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube defended the rebased GDP figures, emphasizing that they follow international best practices and provide a more comprehensive view of Zimbabwe’s economy.
He explained that the figures now include informal traders, small manufacturers, and other emerging businesses identified through the 2023 Economic Census conducted by Zimstat.
Ncube said the updated data would bolster Zimbabwe’s economic credibility and improve efforts to address liquidity issues and external debt. “Given this larger GDP base, it creates more opportunity and capacity to start servicing our external debt,” he stated.
He clarified that the government does not plan to increase immediate expenditure but aims to expand the tax base to match the revised GDP figures.
“We need to figure out how to grow tax revenues from this extra GDP,” he added.
Despite the government’s optimistic outlook, Biti remains unconvinced. He pointed to ongoing issues such as power shortages, droughts, currency volatility, and factory closures, arguing that Zimbabwe’s economic fundamentals have worsened over the past five years.
“The economy has structurally shrunk in the last 5 years. There has been massive de-industrialisation, with companies shutting down or relocating,” Biti said.
He accused the government of using the GDP rebasing as a false narrative of recovery while the majority of Zimbabweans continue to struggle.
According to 2024 IMF estimates, Zimbabwe’s revised economic ranking places it behind South Africa (US$400 billion), Angola (US$115 billion), Tanzania (US$80 billion), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (US$71 billion).
However, critics like Biti argue that these figures do not reflect the ground realities of cash shortages, informal employment, and decaying public services.