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Economic issues
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Weekly Media Update 2005-27
Monday July 18^th – Sunday July 24^th 2005

THE government media continued to deal superficially with Zimbabwe’s shrinking economy, characterised by high inflation and shortages of basic commodities and foreign currency, in the 81 stories they carried on the topic. Fifty-three appeared on ZBH while the remaining 28 appeared in the government Press.

These media particularly used the monetary policy statement by Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono to downplay the country’s poor economic performance and generalize its alleged achievements.

In fact, most of the 48 stories these media carried (ZBH 28 stories, government Press, 20) on Gono’s presentation and the ongoing fuel crisis were uncritical reports that oversimplified Zimbabwe’s economic problems. This resulted in The Herald and Chronicle (18/7) and Power FM (18/7, 6am) reporting that government had secured more foreign currency to buy fuel without stating where the money was coming from or whether it would bring the crisis to an end.

For example, none of the reports investigated the effects of Gono’s devaluation of the dollar to Z$17 500 to the US dollar, or question the practicability of Gono’s target of an inflation rate of 80% by year-end. Nor did they query government’s policy U-turn in allowing individuals and companies to import fuel or (with the exception of The Sunday Mail) test government’s logic of allowing selected service stations to sell fuel in foreign currency in the face of a blitz on foreign currency dealing.

For example, The Herald’s comment (22/7), Devaluation will increase forex inflows, merely said the monetary statement "seeks to stabilise the economy and consolidate the turnaround efforts".

ZTV (21/7, 8pm) simply claimed that the monetary statement had been "hailed for its concerted effort to address the economic challenges facing the country". Radio Zimbabwe and Power FM (22/7, 6am & 1pm) adopted a similar slant. They claimed that "Zimbabweans from all walks of life" had "praised" the monetary policy for focusing on the country’s economic "challenges". However, only Science and Technology Minister Olivia Muchena was quoted in their reports.

Subsequent bulletins continued passive endorsement of the monetary policy.

However, The Sunday Mail (24/7) did query the logic of allowing some service stations to sell fuel at US$1 a litre while the rest sold it at Z$10,000 a litre. It called on government to increase fuel prices again, saying at the current rate, individual importers and companies would sell at a loss, which would fuel the black market.

The sober analysis of The Sunday Mail comment basically echoed the tone of the 44 reports that the private Press carried on the topic.

The stories contradicted government papers’ projections of an improved economy and presented Gono’s monetary policy as emergency measures that were unlikely to provide a lasting solution to the country’s myriad economic problems.

For example, all 13 stories the private media carried on the monetary policy (nine of which appeared in the Zimbabwe Independent), expressed reservations about the measures outlined in it.

The Standard quoted analysts dismissing as "unrealistic" Gono’s prediction that the recent rise in inflation, to 164 percent in June, would fall to about 80 percent by December. Analysts also said Gono’s measures were unlikely to overcome current commodity scarcities.

The Zimbabwe Independent said Gono was putting on a "brave face" because as long as government spending was not curtailed, inflation could gallop to 400% by December. It also pointed out that authorising fuel dealers to sell in hard currency was one step towards the "dollarisation" of the Zimbabwean economy, a move President Mugabe has resisted, insisting that only the Zimbabwe dollar should be used as legal tender in all formal transactions in the country.

The Independent and The Financial Gazette (21/7) also revealed that such was Zimbabwe’s untenable economic position that government was seeking a US$1 billion rescue package from South Africa to finance essential imports and offset its international debt. Studio 7 devoted seven of its eight economic stories to the matter.

The government media ignored this development. Instead, The Sunday Mail allowed Gono to trivialize the matter and evade explaining the real purpose of meeting his SA counterpart, Tito Mboweni.

However, The Herald (23/7) appeared inadvertently to expose Gono’s growing desperation over Zimbabwe’s economic crisis when it reported him as "imploring the diplomatic community not to isolate Zimbabwe, but to assist the country as it seeks to redress its socio-economic crisis" during an address on the state of the economy.

The story, buried on page 8, claimed Gono "stressed" the importance of keeping Zimbabwe "relevant" in the international community, saying it "would not benefit anyone" to have the country "thrown out of the IMF", which meets next month to decide Zimbabwe’s fate.

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