By A Correspondent- Zanu PF’s secretary for finance and acting spokesperson, Patrick Chinamasa, has all but shown the IMF, the World Bank and other global financial institutions the middle finger saying that the country’s economic problems could only be solved internally.

Quoted in the State Media, Chinamasa said relations with these institutions only helps push perceived sanctions against the country

“Zimbabweans need to stop self-hurting efforts meant to please sanctions-imposing countries in order for us to be acceptable to them. It does not matter who is the leader of ZANU PF, no one is ever going to be acceptable.

“It is not about individuals but about the ideology and legacy ZANU PF represents, which will always be a problem for those that have shunned us,” he said.

“To contain this onslaught and to regain momentum, it needs to sink in the minds of our people that Zimbabwe is on its own and our economic problems are only going to be solved by none other than ourselves, leveraging on our internal natural resources and endowments.”

Zimbabweans, Chinamasa said, should not expect or rely on financial aid from international organisations but instead find home-grown solutions to achieve Vision 2030.

“Zimbabweans need to understand that there will be no cent from IMF, the World Bank or African Development Bank, or such, despite the fact that Zimbabwe is a shareholder in all these organisations.

“So the dance with foreign capitals must now be limited to only those serving our mutual interests.

“On the domestic front, we must give focus to the localisation of our economy, and to do so on a sustained, phased basis sector by sector,” he said.

“The country’s economy is not performing to expectations owing to external and domestic challenges. Sanctions remain a key reason for the economy’s troubles, as do natural disasters like Cyclone Idai, two successive drought seasons and the current Covid-19 which has impacted negatively on economic activities across all sectors of the economy.

“To get our country on a growth trajectory and to sustain that growth Zimbabweans, first and foremost, need to understand that Zimbabwe is on its own; the onslaught against our President, Cde Mnangagwa, is at an all-time high and international forces (the usual culprits) are converging to take ZANU PF out of power,” said Chinamasa.-statemedia