Zimbabwe halves 2016 growth forecast, budget deficit widens
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's economy will grow by 0.6 percent in 2016, half the previous forecast, but will recover next year, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said in a budget speech on Thursday. Chinamasa said the budget deficit for the 2017 fiscal year was estimated at $400 million, equivalent to 3 percent of GDP, up from 1.1 percent in this year. The southern African nation is grappling with a devastating drought that has left more than 4 million people facing hunger, while the worst financial crisis in seven years has fuelled some of the biggest anti-government protests in a decade. (Reporting Macdonald Dzirutwe; Writing by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by James Macharia)
