Harare, Zimbabwe – President Robert Mugabe has promised to print more money to fund municipal projects, a government newspaper reported Saturday.
The pledge came despite hyperinflation that has created severe shortages of cornmeal, meat, milk and other staples.
Meanwhile, water shortages worsened because of pump breakdowns, and a senior government official said kidney patients were dying for lack of dialysis machines.
The official Herald newspaper reported that Mugabe told a meeting of local councilors they should put more pressure on government ministers to improve services.
“Where money for projects has not been found, we will print it,” Mugabe was quoted as saying.
The printing of money is generally regarded as a recipe for inflation – which is officially at 4,500 percent in Zimbabwe, though private economists estimate it to be least twice as high.
The government last month ordered sweeping price cuts of about 50 percent, accusing store owners and businesses of fueling the inflation.
Zimbabwe is in the grips of its worst crisis since independence from Britain in 1980. Power, water, health and communications systems are collapsing, and there are acute shortages of staple foods and gasoline. Unemployment is about 80 percent, and political unrest is high.
Mugabe blames Western sanctions and rejects criticism that the meltdown is the result of mismanagement and the often-violent seizures of thousands of white-owned farms he ordered beginning in 2000.
The biggest government hospital group acknowledged Friday that 10 of its 18 kidney dialysis machines were awaiting repair and imported spare parts, needing scarce hard currency.
Vice President Joyce Mujuru said kidney patients had died for lack of dialysis machines, and she lambasted the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare for not fixing the problem.
Mujuru accused officials at one hospital of not installing the machines in the first place, even though she personally requisitioned the equipment from abroad in 2004.
Pharmacists on Friday advised AIDS patients to stock up on their drugs after local manufacturers warned they would soon run out of imported raw materials. Some 20 percent of Zimbabweans are infected with HIV.
