Zimbabwe sees 2019 budget deficit at 4 percent of GDP

Zimbabwean Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube in a swearing ceremony of new cabinet ministers at State House in Harare, Zimbabwe. [Photo: Courtesy]

HARARE - Zimbabwe wants to reduce its budget deficit to 4 percent of gross domestic product in 2019, down from an 11.1 percent forecast this year through various expenditure cuts, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said on Thursday.

The deficit widened after President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government cranked up spending by increasing public sector salaries and purchasing farming inputs for rural farmers ahead of a disputed July 31 presidential election.