Zimbabwe pension scheme group, National Social Security Authority has poured $156 million in the country’s struggling economy, with a large portion sunk into the mining and agriculture sector.

“We believe that we have $156 million out in the productive sectors of the economy. There actually is a board resolution to that effect, that at any given moment we must have a minimum of $156 million,” said NSSA General manager James Matiza.

Matiza said NSSA instructed commercial banks not to lend out any of its money to households, but only to productive sectors of the economy.

The economy of Zimbabwe shrunk significantly after 2000, resulting in a desperate situation for the country and widespread poverty and an 80 percent unemployment rate. Hyperinflation has been a major problem from about 2003 to April 2009, when the country suspended its own currency. Zimbabwe faced 231 million percent peak hyperinflation in 2008.

Industrialized farming was also once the backbone of the domestic Zimbabwean economy and contributed up to 40 percent of the exported produce. As other southern African countries, Zimbabwean soil is rich in raw materials. However in March 2011, the government of Zimbabwe implemented laws which required local ownership of mining companies; following this news, there were falls in the share prices of companies with mines in Zimbabwe.

By George Mpofu