Economy to grow by 3,8% in 2017: World Bank

Zimbabwe’s economy will grow by 3,8% this year, the World Bank has said, in projections higher than the forecast made by Treasury in the 2017 National Budget.

BY BUSINESS REPORTER

Source: Economy to grow by 3,8% in 2017: World Bank – NewsDay Zimbabwe January 12, 2017

In the 2017 National Budget, Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa projected the economy to grow by 1,7% driven by growth in agriculture and mining.

In a report, Global Economic Prospects, Weak Investment in Uncertain Times, the bank estimated the economy to have grown by 0,4% in 2016 against Chinamasa’s projection of 0,6%.

The World Bank said considerable differences would persist across low income countries, with growth among oil exporters remaining weak in 2017.

Other commodity exporters will continue to struggle to adjust to low commodity prices, with activity expanding at a moderate pace, such as Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe, the report said.

It said external and domestic risks to the growth projection varied across countries, but was generally tilted to the downside.

On domestic risks, the World Bank said activity could be adversely affected by persistent drought (Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Malawi, Zimbabwe), rising geopolitical tensions (Afghanistan), heightened political uncertainty (Ethiopia, Haiti, DRC, Zimbabwe), and worsening security in Mali and Afghanistan.

It said for low income countries, activity contracted in oil exporters (Chad, South Sudan), and decelerated in a number of metal exporters (DRC, Mozambique, Zimbabwe) as they continued to struggle to adjust to low commodity prices.