Government of Zimbabwe, in its mid-year fiscal policy review, has announced that the Government will make concerted efforts to boost the country’s textile sector. The move has come as blanket imports to Zimbabwe have plunged by 98 per cent, from $500,000 worth of products to $11,000 since the removal of the commodity (blankets) from the open general import license in July this year.

The government has also proposed to introduce ‘manufacturers’ rebate duty’ on critical inputs imported by approved textile manufacturers covering spare parts, yarns and unbleached fabrics, among others. The new measure forms part of extensive interventions that the government is taking to grow the economy.

Zimbabwe’s textile and leather industries, since ‘dollarisation’, have been under siege from the influx of imports, especially finished second hand clothes, shoes and leather products. All these have forced some of the domestic manufacturers to shut shop, so the Government of Zimbabwe decided to fast-track the gazetting of a Statutory Instrument that prohibits import of blankets.