Zimbabwe
The Zimbabwe economy is rebounding after a decade of economic decline during which time real gross domestic product (GDP) fell by more than a third and per capita income fell by 40%, combined with prolonged or chronic inflation and hyperinflation.
Zimbabwe’s recent history has been marked by a sluggish economy resulting largely from ineffective government policies. The economic decline has led to increased poverty for the population as a whole, with women being particularly hard hit.
2000: Insurance and Pensions Commission Act (not yet fully implemented); provides for the establishment of the Insurance and Pensions Commission to supervise insurance companies and pension and provident funds.
Since the late 1990s, Zimbabwe has been struggling with a wide range of economic and social problems, including soaring infl ation and an HIV/AIDS pandemic. The education system faces high demand due to a large school-age population. More than one-third of the population is between the ages of 5 and 19 years. However, due primarily to the impact of HIV/AIDS, the population of 5 to 14-year-olds has not grown since 1995.
La profonde crise politico-économique qui frappe le Zimbabwe depuis 1997 s’est encore aggravée en 2001 et 2002, sous l’effet conjugué de déséquilibres macro-économiques croissants, de la sécheresse généralisée au cours du premier trimestre 2002 et de l’accélération des réformes agraires qui a suivi la réélection contestée du président Robert Mugabe. Par conséquent, le pays connaît actuellement une grave crise alimentaire. Selon les estimations, la pénurie de céréales devrait atteindre 1.8 million de tonnes et la moitié de la population risque d’être touchée par la famine, tandis que les nécessaires importations de denrées sont freinées par le manque croissant de devises étrangères. Parallèlement à cette situation alimentaire alarmante, l’économie s’est encore dégradée en 2002 : le taux de chômage devrait atteindre 60 pour cent de la population active...
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The severe economic and political crisis that has embroiled the country since 1997, deteriorated further in 2001 and 2002, owing to the combined effect of the increasing macroeconomic imbalances, the massive drought that hit the country during the first quarter of 2002 and the acceleration of the fast-track land reform programme, following the disputed re-election of President Robert Mugabe. As a consequence, the country is currently facing a dramatic food crisis. The cereal gap is forecast to be about 1.8 million tons and half of the population is expected to face starvation, while food importation is hampered by deepening foreign currency shortages. On top of this alarming food situation, the economy has continued to deteriorate in 2002 with the unemployment rate reaching an estimated 60 per cent. Although the government has been successful in reducing the fiscal deficit from 20.7 per cent of GDP in 2000 to 8.1 per cent in 2001, the economy has suffered from the general decline in business confidence, the loose monetary policy that more than doubled average inflation, and an overvalued fixed exchange rate. Real GDP, which had already shrunk by 7.4 per cent in 2001, is expected to contract by 11.4 per cent in 2002 against a background of continuous weaknesses in the agricultural, mining, manufacturing and tourism sectors. The current crisis is expected to worsen an already worrying social context with a society characterized by strong and persistent dualism, at least 2 million people living with HIV/AIDS, and collapsing healthcare and education systems…