President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration has blamed the current economic mess on former Finance Minister Tendai Biti.

They said Biti left only $217 in the bank account.

Deputy Finance minister Terrence Mukupe told the senate Mnangagwa inherited a bankrupt ministry.

He said Tendai Biti who was the finance minister during the Government of National Unity left only $217.

He said, “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.” – DailyNews