Man holds up defaced Robert Mugabe street sign during one of the many protests to engulf Harare in 2016 - Photo Credit: Reuters 2016, was always going to be a tough year. The seeds had been sown years prior, with the economy manifestly displaying signs of distress. Inflationary data was negative coming off 2015, and tightening lending by banks all but pointed to a severely weakening liquidity situation that had largely remained restricted to business circles, and big-shot private investors. As the year wore on however, this crisis eventually blew-up and started affecting the individual Zimbabwean at a very micro level, where it hurts the most. Civil Service Bonuses With some commendable level of foresight, finance minister Patrick Chinamasa had announced early in 2015 that it was government`s considered view that bonus payments for civil servants was a luxury it could no longer sustain, and hence bonuses were to be scrapped. However, at an Independence Day speech just...
Economics, Business and Finance