Harare, December 2, 2025—Zimbabwe’s economy is projected to rebound with an estimated 6.6 percent GDP growth largely supported by the recovery in agriculture, iron and steel manufacturing, and services, outpacing many regional peers in the Sub-Saharan Africa region according to the sixth Zimbabwe Economic Update (ZEU) launched today. The report highlights a rebound in growth, easing inflation, and recommends a policy agenda to sustain macroeconomic stability and improve the business environment to spur private investment and job creation.
The Zimbabwe Economic Update: Fostering a Business-Enabling Regulatory Environment for Private Sector Growth notes that Zimbabwe’s external position remains resilient, with mineral exports and remittances helping maintain a modest current‑account surplus. While the fiscal deficit narrowed, financing needs and debt‑service pressures remain high, reflecting unsustainable public debt and outstanding external arrears. Poverty is expected to decline gradually as growth recovers, but remains sensitive to weather shocks and inflation, with rural households particularly exposed due to the dependence on rain-fed agriculture, slow off-farm jobs, and inadequate social protection. Additionally, elevated debt with external arrears constrains access to affordable financing and debt‑service costs, crowding out priority investment and social spending.
“Zimbabwe has made encouraging progress toward macroeconomic stabilization,” said Eneida Fernandes, World Bank Group Country Manager for Zimbabwe. “Sustained policy consistency that anchors inflation, strengthens fiscal discipline, and advances arrears resolution will be critical to attract investment, create jobs, and support vulnerable households.”
To address these challenges, the report recommends maintaining a tight, coordinated monetary stance to keep inflation on a downward path and support exchange rate stability. It calls for financing of all public operations transparently through the budget while avoiding quasi‑fiscal activities and strengthening cash management and commitment controls. The authors also urge advancing enhancement of fiscal consolidation while protecting priority investments and targeted social protection, as well as mobilizing domestic revenue by rationalizing tax expenditures and improving mining and property taxation including implementing an arrears strategy with enhanced debt transparency and risk management.
A special chapter of the ZEU focuses on the business environment, reflecting how regulatory complexity, para‑fiscal fees, and fragmented service delivery raise compliance costs—especially for small firms—discouraging formalization, investment, growth, and job creation. The ZEU outlines a practical reform agenda built around transparency of a public registry of licenses, fees, and inspections, simplification and digitalization, and institutional accountability.
“Zimbabwe’s economic reform agenda is now bearing fruit, and I believe that the Ease of Doing Business reforms will make a significant contribution to sustainable growth going forward,” said Hon. Mthuli Ncube, Minister of Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion.
The report recognizes the notable progress on the recent regulatory reforms by the Government of Zimbabwe under the Presidential Ease of Doing Business Initiative and recommends key regulatory actions in promoting transparency, particularly in the areas of public registry of licenses, fees, and inspection requirements to reduce uncertainty and discretion. It also urges simplifying and digitizing to eliminate overlaps and inspections to lower costs for firms, while enabling regulators to allocate resources more efficiently. Finally, it recommends strengthening central oversight of regulatory reforms, with clearly aligned institutional mandates that serve the public interest rather than institutional revenue needs.
