By Tendai Biti

The 2025 Zimbabwean budget was presented against the backdrop of an extraordinarily difficult year for the country’s working people. A year that saw citizens subjected to extreme inflation, a manipulated exchange rate, high taxes, power shortages, poverty, and the aftermath of a devastating drought.

In this context, there was a glimmer of hope. Citizens and businesses alike had hoped for a bold, honest, decisive, and technically sound budget—one that would tackle the pressing challenges of the day, offer hope, and provide relief to a weary and desperate population.

Regrettably, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube’s budget turned out to be little more than a shallow, hollow, and self-serving exercise—a dishonest ritual that does nothing for the people. The budget perfectly encapsulates the incompetent, ideologically bankrupt, corrupt, and insensitive nature of the Mnangagwa regime.

Seven critical issues highlight the fatal flaws of Ncube’s budget:

1. Failure to Use United States Dollars
   The first failure is the budget’s reliance on the Zimbabwean dollar (ZiG). In a high-inflation environment, using a local currency that has been ravaged by inflation is a glaring mistake. Zimbabwe has endured six currency failures, and any budget presented in a local currency is simply a façade. It creates confusion and misleads businesses by distorting the true extent of economic mismanagement.
2. Unsound Macroeconomic Projections
   The second flaw lies in Ncube’s macroeconomic projections, which are blatantly dishonest. A 2 percent GDP growth for 2024 is far too optimistic, as it underestimates the economic depression exacerbated by the government’s policies. Since April 2024, many businesses have closed or downsized, leading to a significant reduction in government revenues. The projected 6 percent growth in 2025 is based on overly optimistic assumptions: decent rainfall, low inflation, and a stable currency. Expecting this government to manage a tight fiscal policy is unrealistic.
3. Budget Framework is Unsustainable
   The 2025 budget framework is also deeply flawed. In 2024, the government plans to collect ZiG 110.722 billion in revenue against projected expenditure of ZiG 119.972 billion, resulting in a deficit of ZiG 9.3 billion. In 2025, revenue is expected to jump to ZiG 276.4 billion (US$7.5 billion), while expenditure will be close at ZiG 276.3 billion (US$7.668 billion). This growth in revenue defies logic—how can revenue increase by 150 percent when businesses are closing down and the economy is in decline?

Ncube expects revenue to soar from ZiG 110 billion (US$3.05 billion) in 2024 to US$7.5 billion in 2025. This dishonesty demonstrates a complete disrespect for Zimbabwean intelligence and an utter contempt for Parliament. The real question remains: where will the government extract US$7.5 billion when businesses have been squeezed dry?

4. Nonsensical Tax Measures
   The revenue measures proposed in the budget are both narcissistic and lacking empathy. Imposing taxes on betting income, pizza, and chicken is absurd. Targeting informal traders—who are struggling to survive—with taxes on spare parts, groceries, hardwares, and clothing is cruel and misguided. The government seems to believe it can extract money from a stone, ignoring the fact that there is a growing crisis of under-accumulation in the economy. The 2025 budget should have aimed to reduce taxes and provide economic stimuli to boost consumption and production. Instead, it took the opposite approach, exacerbating the problem.
5. No Focus on Currency Reform
   There is no mention of currency reform in the budget, despite the fact that the crux of Zimbabwe’s crisis lies in exchange rate mismanagement. The regime’s failure to address this issue in the budget is a glaring oversight that will only continue to perpetuate the country’s economic woes.
6. Ignoring the Energy Crisis
   Given the current energy crisis, the budget should have addressed the dire power situation. It is almost laughable to expect 6 percent growth in the economy without a reliable power supply. Ironically, during the budget presentation itself, the power went out, serving as a stark reminder of the regime’s failure to provide even the most basic infrastructure for economic growth.

Conclusion
In conclusion, this is the worst government in Zimbabwe’s history, and the 2025 budget is a clear reflection of that fact. The budget fails to provide any meaningful solutions to the country’s crisis and instead serves to reinforce the incompetence and indifference of the Mnangagwa regime. Zimbabweans deserve better.

Tendai Biti served as Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister from 2009-2013 and is the former Secretary General of the Movement for Democratic Change, former MP, and ex-CCC vice president.