Zimbabwe: Legislators Speak With One Voice

Harare — UNITY and maturity prevailed in the two houses of Parliament yesterday when legislators from the three main political parties, along with an independent, united to push Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 19) Bill through the House of Assembly and Senate within hours.Described as a historic day by Zanu-PF, MDC-T and MDC legislators attending the momentous session, the mood cascaded to both the Speaker’s and Press galleries exuding a brotherly atmosphere that has been missing in the country for years due to political polarisation.

South Africa: Mboweni ‘Guns Blazing’ for an Even Bigger Cut

Johannesburg — THE Reserve Bank cut interest rates by a full percentage point yesterday, with governor Tito Mboweni saying he had gone to its policy meeting with “all guns blazing” for a bigger reduction.Markets had anticipated a cut of that size, which took the Bank’s repo rate to 10,5% and marked the biggest adjustment to SA’s interest rates since 2003. But Mboweni’s disclosure that he had suggested slashing rates by two percentage points indicated that more cuts of similar magnitude were likely this year.