Abstract
The coronavirus aka Covid-19 pandemic arrived in Zimbabwe at a time when the country was in the throes of its worst economic turmoil in recent years. Within months of its arrival, the pandemic has already upended the public healthcare system, eroded the livelihoods of millions of people, and further deepened the economic headwinds in the country. Apparently, Zimbabwe has been in a crisis mode since the beginning of the 21st Century. As such, the pandemic has added an extra burden to the country that is already creaking under mounting weight of external debt peonage, fiscal deficit, liquidity crisis, and international isolation among many other social and economic ills. In this context, the country faces an uphill task in mobilising financial and non-financial resources in order to contain the coronavirus crisis. This article therefore sets out to examine the obstacles and opportunities for financing the fight against Covid-19 pandemic within a discursive context of a debt trapped Southern African country.
Highlights
The coronavirus aka Covid-19 pandemic landed in Zimbabwe at a time when the country was in the throes of its worst economic turmoil in recent years
This article has noted that Zimbabwe is struggling with the outbreak of the coronavirus impact on public health care, livelihoods, and the national economy
It was observed that the country has been in the crisis mode since the beginning of the 21st century the Covid-19 crisis found the country without resources and unprepared for the pandemic
Summary
The coronavirus aka Covid-19 pandemic landed in Zimbabwe at a time when the country was in the throes of its worst economic turmoil in recent years. The country is faced with a huge external debt, fiscal deficit, and almost half of the population is food insecure In this context, the country faces huge challenges in raising enough internal resources to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. As at 4 June 2020, Zimbabwe has recorded 222 confirmed cases of coronavirus infections, 4 deaths, and 29 recoveries (The Chronicle News Paper, 2020). The article is structured as follows: Section 2 provides a brief socio-economic and political context, section 3 examines the financing gaps; sections 4 presents the international response to Covid-19, sections 5, 6, and 7 discuss debt relief, emergency funding, and domestic resource mobilisation respectively; section 8 discusses the public finance management while section 9 concludes the discussion
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