Phillimon Mhlanga
International donors have pledged close to US$100m to help Zimbabwe fight the deadly coronavirus, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has said.
According to Ncube, the Global Fund has pledged US$25m, while the World Bank and United States government have promised US$25m and US$470 000 respectively.
The United Kingdom government and the European Union have also pledged 1.7m and €38m respectively.
“Development partners are complementing government efforts in a number of ways focusing on humanitarian assistance. Given the magnitude of the resources required to fight this crisis, government will continue to approach and engage more development partners as well as our own private sector to combine efforts towards fighting this pandemic.
The deadly coronavirus also known as COVID-19 is causing the world’s market leaders to scratch their heads.
Zimbabwe has eight confirmed cases of people who tested positive for coronavirus, including one death.
The virus has become a global pandemic having infected close to 800 000 people and killed over 37 000 worldwide, according to the latest count by Johns Hopkins University.
A number of countries worldwide, including Zimbabwe, announced national lock downs to try to control the spread of the virus. But, new cases continue to be reported.
At this rate, it could get onto the podium of historically significant epidemics such as the Plague of Justinian; the Black Death, or the Spanish Flu, which killed millions of people at the end of World War 1.
The economic impact is likely to be worsened by international supply lines dependence on China and economists are warning of a significant impact on gross domestic product growth expectations. In fact, they now expect a pandemic-driven recession this year.
Ncube has also redirected the 2% tax levied on electronic transactions meant for social protection and capital development projects will now be channelled towards national programmes meant to combat the coronavirus.
Ncube also said Treasury has set aside over ZWL$500m to cover one million vulnerable households under a cash transfer programme over the next three months.
Ncube said payments will commence immediately.
Government has also provided ZWL$50m to Premier Services Medical Aid Society to prepare for COVID-19. Government workers, are the majority of the society.
