* Spectre of poll violence, indigenisation of firms unnerve
investors
* Power-sharing govt has overseen recovery
* Govt sees 2012 GDP growth at 9.4 pct v 9.3 pct in 2011
By Nelson Banya
HARARE, Jan 5 (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s projected
economic growth in 2012 depends on a stable political
environment which could be undermined if a contentious general
election takes place, the African Development Bank (AfDB) said
in a monthly review released on Thursday.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti expects the economy to expand
by a further 9.4 percent in 2012 from a forecast 9.3 percent
last year, mainly on the back of a rebound in agriculture and
mining. Inflation is projected to average 5 percent this year.
The southern African country has been on a recovery path
since 2009 when long-time ruler President Robert Mugabe agreed
to share power with his rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai,
after disputed 2008 polls and in a bid to reverse a decade-long
economic slump.
The AfDB said while international commodity prices would be
key to Zimbabwe’s economic growth prospects, internal policy
decisions, such as Mugabe’s drive to give control of foreign
owned firms to locals, could hurt the economy.
“The on-going implementation of the indigenisation and
economic empowerment laws and the expected national elections in
2012 continue to weaken external investor confidence,” the AfDB
said in its review of Zimbabwe’s economy.
Continued…
