Ncube trims 2027 growth forecast to 3.5% as budget talks open

Updates

1. 08:45 GMT, Sunday 1 NovemberLatest

   Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube says civil servants will be paid their 2026 annual bonuses. Speaking to journalists as the four-day seminar closed in Bulawayo on Saturday, he said: "Without any difficulty, we are going to pay civil servants their bonuses. As you know, as the Second Republic, we have never missed payment of civil servants' bonuses," as The Herald, NewZimbabwe and New Ziana reported. He said traditional chiefs will again be included, as they were last year for the first time since independence. He did not give a payment date or an amount, and did not announce a salary rise, although MPs at the seminar pushed for a pay review, New Ziana reported. Ncube also said ministries and government departments had asked for close to ZiG1 trillion against projected revenue of ZiG347 billion, so "there will be a haircut everywhere" to fit the ceiling. NewZimbabwe put the bids at ZiG974 billion and reported that Treasury plans an infrastructure fund backed by private-sector and pension money for roads, health and water projects where user fees can be charged. The budget is due on 19 November. Read source

2. 16:45 GMT, Saturday 31 October

   Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri told the seminar that some soldiers are borrowing ceremonial uniforms because Treasury is not releasing funds on time. Her ministry is meant to issue three sets of uniform to each soldier but has managed only two, and the uniform allocation covers about a quarter of the ZiG4 billion it asked for. "Currently the ministry is failing to meet the requirement for ceremonial uniforms. Many have to borrow. This does not give us the dignity we deserve," she said. She said Manyame Hospital, a 149-bed military hospital that has been 97% complete for two years, cannot open because the army cannot equip it and the contractor has left the site over non-payment, while some officers are referred to India for treatment. She added that unpaid utility bills have left some barracks without water or electricity and that low pay is hurting morale. NewZimbabwe and iHarare reported the remarks. In a separate report, NewZimbabwe quoted her warning that Zimbabwe is "vulnerable" to drone warfare and saying the Air Force of Zimbabwe has lost almost half of its pilots to foreign recruiters over poor pay, with no money set aside this year for the defence forces' modernisation. Read source

3. 08:35 GMT, Saturday 31 October

   Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda has urged Zimbabweans to eat less sadza (isitshwala) and more porridge to stretch maize-meal supplies ahead of what he called a coming "Super El Niño" drought. Addressing MPs at the seminar on Friday, he asked them to become "apostles of thrift" and to tell households to cut waste and make their grain last longer. "Yes, let everybody drink porridge. If you cook porridge you save on mealie-meal," he said, adding: "If we rely only on the fiscus, some people will die of hunger." He recalled families cutting from three meals a day to two during the 1957 drought, and said the 2027 budget "should fortify social protection safety nets", with MPs checking that help reaches vulnerable households. ZimLive, Pindula News and iHarare reported the remarks. Read source

4. 16:45 GMT, Friday 30 October

   Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube says any government ministry contract worth more than US$2 million now needs Treasury approval before it is awarded. Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the seminar in Bulawayo, he said: "We have put in some rules of the game to say that any contract above US$2 million from any government ministry ought to be approved by Treasury, just to make sure that we stay within reasonable limits in terms of budgeting and we see value for money," as Pindula News, NewZimbabwe and ZimCitizenNews reported. He said ministries were beginning to comply, and that without that discipline "it becomes difficult to request further support from Parliament". Pindula News reported that Ncube declined to give figures on debt restructuring but said a significant part of the debt had already been restructured and the process should be finished by March. The US$2 million threshold was first set out in Treasury Circular 10 of 2025, Pindula reported last year. Read source