The Government says plans for the reopening of ZISCO steel are now at an advanced stage as the nation intensifies the import substitution initiative through the capacitation of local industry.

The committee tasked with overseeing the reopening of ZISCO Steel is working hard to ensure the steel giant reopens for business with a lasting solution now on the horizon.

Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, who met the ZANU PF Midlands provincial coordinating committee this Saturday, says capacitation of the local industry is also government’s priority.

“We understand that this is a province which is anchored on mining. We will resuscitate ZISCO. We have a committee that is working flat out to make sure that this comes to fruition. We want to create more jobs and as such, this is part of that trajectory.

“We also have a programme to support local industry. What comes to mind is Sable Chemicals also located here in the Midlands province. We want to ensure that they reach their maximum capacity utilisation. This will help us in import substitution.”

Professor Ncube hailed the RBZ weekly foreign currency auction system as having managed to stabilise the rates.

“Now we can plan without many hurdles. Since we started the auction system, we are now experiencing stability on the pricing regime. We want stability in the country and this is exactly what we are witnessing. The system has dealt with speculative tendencies that were driving inflation. We want to see more companies and banks participating in this auction system.”

The Finance Minister also urged banks to ensure that civil servants purchase goods and services using their foreign currency allowances as opposed to converting it to local currency.

-State Media