Stanbic Bank, South Africa’s Standard Bank Zimbabwe subsidiary, is in dire straits as the country’s operating environment continued to deteriorate during the 12 month period ended December 31 as the firm achieved a mean profit after tax of Z$6.628 trillion and suffered a loss of Z$1.808 billion. The figures are on an inflation adjusted basis, the bank said Friday.

Stanbic Bank

Hyperinflation, Moyo Said continued to skyrocket as it surged from 1593 percent in January 2007 to 66 212 percent by year end.

He also cited the country’s continued decline in the performance of the economy: Gross domestic product is estimated to have declined by 3.5 percent in 2007 and the key productive sectors estimated to be operating at about 25 percent of full capacity, he said.

But last year, a crisis almost destabilized a sector that has hitherto been performing with much discipline. A cash shortage crisis robbed citizens of Zimbabwe of their crucial time and resources as they would spend most of their time in bank queues.

Stanbic Bank has however, analysts say, managed to stay afloat in the country owing to sound management policies and a tightened grip on discipline by the bank’s South Africa parent company, Standard Bank.

Moyo meanwhile says acute shortages of foreign currency almost resulted in the bank failing to effectively function.

He says shortages of foreign currency persistently limit the country’s capacity to import critical requirements, including fuel, electricity, industrial raw materials, machinery and spare parts.

Zimbabwe has the potential to attract investors in this crucial banking and finance sector but, just as Gono warned in a recent policy statement, the country stands to lose a lot if the government forges ahead, albeit carelessly, with its plans to grab stakes in all foreign companies operational in the country.

President Robert Mugabe who faces Morgan Tsvangirai of the splintered opposition Movement for Democratic Change and Independent Presidential candidate Simba Makoni in this weekend’s joint polls has since signed the Indigenization and Empowerment Bill into law.

Should Mugabe win the joint polls and grabs another mandate to rule Zimbabwe for the next five years, then Zimbabwe’s economy and its populace are in for another five years of turmoil and economic stagnation.

Zimbabwe’s economy has been in rapid decline for the past eight years. Mugabe’s critics’ blame him for the country’s nose-diving economic and human rights abuses fortunes but he denies the charges, saying imposed targeted sanctions are to blame for the country’s poor economic performance.

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