GABORONE (AFP) — The head of the Southern African Development Community said on Friday a report on economic solutions for Zimbabwe would remain under wraps, but he believed the country still had a viable economy.
SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salamao sought to quash rumours emerging after last week's summit in Lusaka, denying he had suggested Zimbabwe's neighbours should pump money into the country's ailing economy, or that its currency be pinned to South Africa's.
"I have never suggested that money be pumped into the Zimbabwean Reserve Bank as a rescue plan," he told reporters at a briefing in Gabarone, Botswana.
"I have also heard rumours that in my report I have suggested that the Zimbabwean Dollar be pegged to the South African Rand as a way of rescuing the situation. That is not true."
He did however say his report recommended that SADC member states come up with ways to help Zimbabwe, and that finance ministers had been tasked with working with Zimbabwe and offering solutions for its problems.
Zimbabwe, once regarded as a regional bread basket, first ran into economic trouble when Mugabe ordered the seizure of white-owned farms in 2001 which had been a major source of revenue.
The situation has worsened, with rampant inflation of over 7,500 percent and massive food shortages with more than three million Zimbabweans having fled the country and four out of five people unemployed.
The contents of the report have remained a closely guarded secret, and will remain so until further notice.
"I will make it available for the Finance Ministers of SADC for now. Now is not the right time to make the document public. It will be made public at some stage, but not now," he said.
Salamao said that when compiling his report he found that despite the turmoil, the flailing economy remained a viable one.
"It is one economy that is operating with sanctions, although the European Union claims that their sanctions are targeting some 130 individuals. If you tell the world do not trust those who are running the economy, what message are you sending," he said.
"Zimbabwe's economy currently has no access to soft loans and lines of credit. They operate only on hard cash. You cannot run an economy that way."
South African president Thabo Mbeki, charged with mediating in the country's economic and political crisis, denied in his weekly letter on Friday that SADC leaders were divided over the report.
Quoting from sections of Salamao's report, Mbeki said the most urgent action was to establish lines of credit to allow Zimbabwe to carry out imports for production sectors.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
