Zim revenue slide blamed on Marange leakage

[miningmx.com] – ZIMBABWE finance minister, Tendai Biti, blamed a
deterioration in government finances on a failure to win its share of revenue from the
controversial Marange diamond fields.

The Financial Times reported that government revenue was $244m in the first half of
its fiscal year, some 13% below targets primarily owing to a $229m shortfall in
diamond revenue. As a result, spending was cut by a similar amount ($246m).

In order to overcome the leakage in diamond revenues, Biti said the Zimbabwean
government would make sure its Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation or “any
other future government diamonds agency”, had a 50% shareholding in diamond
companies, the Financial Times reported.

This included the Chinese-owned Anjin diamonds which was the second largest
exporter of Zimbabwe diamonds worth $123m in the first half of 2012, the paper said.

Diamonds had overtaken gold and tobacco to become Zimbabwe’s second largest
export after platinum. Revenues from diamonds increased to $363m, a 370%
increase, in the first half of the 2012 financial year, equal to about 20% of total
exports, the Financial Times said.

Biti lamented Zimbabwe’s failure to attract foreign direct investment. “This economy
needs foreign direct investment to increase this little cake into a bigger cake that will
generate jobs,” Biti said.