BULAWAYO – Finance minister Mthuli Ncube left parliamentarians stunned after claiming that the average Zimbabwean now spends about US$9 per day, suggesting the country is edging closer to achieving middle-income status.
Addressing MPs during a 2026 pre-budget seminar in Bulawayo last week, Ncube said government data shows “most citizens are now spending on average $9 per day,” which he described as evidence of growing prosperity.
“The data tells us that we are no longer a small economy, we are a serious economy going forward,” he said. “By the end of December, Zimbabwe will be a fully-fledged middle-income economy.”
Ncube projected that the economy would grow by 5.6 percent in 2025, driven by public investment in infrastructure including roads, dams and other major projects.
He outlined the country’s current sectoral composition as follows: manufacturing (15.3 percent), mining (14.5 percent), wholesale and retail (11.9 percent), finance and insurance (10.8 percent), agriculture (9.3 percent), education (4.3 percent) and transport (2.3 percent).
Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe deputy governor Innocent Matshe told the same meeting that foreign currency reserves had surged from US$276 million in April to US$930 million in September, with the bank expecting to hit the US$1 billion mark before year-end.
Ncube’s remarks drew murmurs from lawmakers, some of whom questioned whether the $9 figure reflects the lived reality of millions of Zimbabweans struggling with inflation, low wages and high prices.
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