Zimbabwe Exports Reach US$6 Billion Surpassing NDS1 Target
Data released by the government’s statistical agency, Zimstart, shows that exports from Zimbabwe earned the country US$6.03 billion in the year 2021.
This is higher than the target set in the National Development Strategy (NDS) 1 economic blueprint. The trend is attributed to numerous export promotion facilities.
The Southern African nation has targeted to attain an upper-middle-income status by 2030 leveraging on the projected export-oriented economy as enunciated in blueprints like the NDS1.
Trade promotion agency, Zimtrade said the development is a good signal. The agency said:
Exports between January-December 2021 stood at US$6.03 billion, which is a 37.3 % increase compared to US$4.39 billion recorded in the same period in 2020.The US$6 billion-dollar mark, breached by local exports, is the highest ever recorded figure.
The lobby group attributed the jump in exports to the re-engagement drive undertaken by President Mnangagwa’s administration since 2018.
During the period, the value of imports also went up by 33.3% to US$7.57 billion from US$5.68 billion in 2020, pushing the trade deficit up to US$1.54 billion during the period under review, from US$1.29 billion recorded during the same period in 2020.
Zimtrade said the bulk of imports were raw materials and capital equipment being channelled into the local manufacturing sector to boost production.
The raw materials imports were backed by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) foreign exchange auction system which has seen 62% of the total US$1.9 billion allotted in 2021 alone going towards raw material imports.
More: NewZimbabwe.com