ZIMBABWE NETZWERK e.V.

Civil service boss rejects retrenchments

The Source writes in New Zimbabwe: " HARARE: The Civil Service Commission (CSC) said it has recommended to government a raft of reforms that will save Treasury $400 million annually but ruled out retrenchments. Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa told a visiting International Monetary Fund delegation last week that it intends to sharply cut its public sector wage bill from 83 percent of government spending currently to 52 percent of expenditure by 2019 to improve fiscal discipline. Zimbabwe met targets and structural benchmarks under the 15-month staff monitored programme (SMP) - an informal agreement between a government and IMF staff to monitor the implementation of its economic reforms - but has pledged wider reforms aimed at streamlining expenditure and boosting investment in productive sectors. CSC chairman, Mariyawanda Nzuwah said the civil service currently had a total establishment of 173,000 workers, excluding the judiciary services, police, army, health sector, prison services, people employed in other constitutionally established bodies and grant aided institutions. [...] A civil service audit had showed that some former employees who had long left the country were still on the government payroll. ...".