Economists torched Zimbabwe's 2026 budget for squeezing citizens harder while pretending to offer breaks. Finance minister Mthuli Ncube dropped IMTT on local currency deals by half a percent but cranked VAT from 15% to 15.5%, which wipes out any gains since VAT hits everyone and poor people catch the worst of it. Economist Chenayimoyo Mutambasere said the IMTT cut means nothing when people already ditched the local currency after getting burned by past reforms, and over 90% of transactions happen in dollars anyway.
The budget wants to pull in an extra $1.47 billion through aggressive taxation that targets informal businesses with rental levies and cash withdrawal fees. Economist Vince Musewe said revenues just reward party loyalists while urban poverty spreads, and Tony Hawkins pointed out the VAT hike generates way more cash than what the government gave up through the IMTT reduction. Gift Mugano said businesses are stuck in the same spot because the changes cancel each other out completely.
The budget wants to pull in an extra $1.47 billion through aggressive taxation that targets informal businesses with rental levies and cash withdrawal fees. Economist Vince Musewe said revenues just reward party loyalists while urban poverty spreads, and Tony Hawkins pointed out the VAT hike generates way more cash than what the government gave up through the IMTT reduction. Gift Mugano said businesses are stuck in the same spot because the changes cancel each other out completely.
