US embassy cable - 03HARARE2080

UNCLAS HARARE 002080 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/PDPA FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS 
NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER 
LONDON FOR GURNEY 
PARIS FOR NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, KPAO, KMDR, ZI 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REPORT STATE NEWSPAPER ATTACKS GOZ MINISTER; 
HARARE 
 
 
  1.   Under headline "Take urgent steps to arrest inflation" 
      the government-controlled daily newspaper "The Herald" 
      (circulation 50 - 70,000) dedicated its October 16 
      editorial to attacking Finance Minister Dr. Herbert Murerwa 
      and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) for doing nothing to 
      arrest the run-away inflation in the country.  This could 
      be the first direct salvo on one of Robert Mugabe's key 
      minister's since the economic downturn started in 1999 by 
      this newspaper that has long been the leading propaganda 
      organ for the Mugabe administration.  Excerpts of the 
      unusual editorial follow: 
 
  2.   "The Achilles' heel of Zimbabwe's economy is the 
      spiraling inflation, which has now reached a peak of 
      455,5 percent.  There is need to act quickly to 
      contain the rampant inflation, a major contributor 
      to declining standards of living and deepening 
      poverty levels. . .The Minister of Finance and 
      Economic Development, Dr. Herbert Murerwa, is aware 
      of how bad the inflation has risen but has not done 
      anything that could see a deceleration of the 
      inflation. . .It is that the minister and the 
      central bank, which acts as an adviser to the 
      government on economic matters, have not done 
      anything to ensure that inflation stops 
      accelerating. . .Both the Ministry of Finance and 
      Economic Development and the Reserve Bank of 
      Zimbabwe have apparently been spectators standing on 
      the sidelines while inflation has been worsening. . 
      .We urge Dr. Murerwa to act timeously (sic) on 
      critical issues like inflation, which have serious 
      repercussions on the entire economy and livelihood 
      of the people." 
 
SULLIVAN