President Mugabe pays tribute to resilient Zimbabweans

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday paid tribute to Zimbabweans for peacefully enduring economic hardships over the last 16 years.

Delivering his state of the nation address in parliament, Mugabe said Zimbabweans had suffered tremendous economic hardships since the country embarked on the land reform program in 2000.

"I wish to commend them for their resilience, and urge them to cherish the peace and tranquility that continues to be the envy of many," Mugabe said.

"Let us continue to find national pride in our core values of unity, hard work and freedom," he added.

Mugabe spoke as the nation is in the grip of a severe cash crunch which started early this year, forcing monetary authorities to introduce bond notes last week to ease the cash shortages.

Although they initially faced resistance from businesses and members of the public, the notes, backed by a 200 million U.S. dollar facility from the African Export-Import Bank, have gained public acceptance.

Zimbabwe has been in the throes of an economic crisis since 2000 when the European Union and the United States imposed sanctions on the country after it embarked on the land reform program meant to redress colonial land imbalances.

After its currency was wiped by hyperinflation, Zimbabwe in 2009 introduced a multi-currency system that stabilized the economy and ensured real positive growth until 2013 when growth started to taper off.

Growth has been on a slow down since then, with government revising downwards its growth projections for 2016 to 1.2 percent from the initial 2.7 percent due to an El-Nino induced drought.

The International Monetary Fund forecasts a negative growth rate of -0.3 percent in 2016, marking the first time that Zimbabwe slides back into recession after seven years of positive growth from a decade-long recession.

Foreign direct investment has remained low over the years, hovering around 500 million U.S. dollars due to unfriendly policies.

Mugabe, however, said his government was accelerating implementation of policy reforms to rejuvenate the ailing economy and reduce poverty.

He said the recently promulgated Special Economic Zones Act should provide greater impetus to the country's economic turnaround by facilitating foreign direct investment inflows, industrialization, technology transfer, employment creation and increased export earnings. Endit