Former Finance and Economic Development Minister during the Government of National Unity (GNU), Tendai Biti Wednesday said it was known that “trillions of dollars being paid in cartels constructing roads” were driving inflation.
He told parliamentarians on Wednesday that the printing of Zimbabwe dollars to pay cartels in the construction industry was fuelling inflation. NewZimbabwe.com cites him as saying:
We know what is driving inflation and, as he knows, it is the trillions of dollars being paid to cartels constructing roads and cartels that are coming from the auction floor.
The Harare East legislator Tendai Biti told Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube Wednesday to stop pretending to be ignorant about the causes of hyperinflation in the country.
Last month the government suspended payments to contractors with Finance Ministry permanent secretary George Guvamatanga accusing the companies of submitting invoices of cash for goods and services using parallel market rates.
The US dollar has been changing hands for between Z$700 and Z$800, more than 40% higher than the official Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) rate.
Inflation in the Southern African country has been going up in recent years with authorities struggling to get a sustainable solution.
The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) last week reported that the country’s inflation rate had eased to 106.3 % from 257%.