OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Sunday 5.45pm.
THE Zimbabwe government on Sunday attacked a British newspaper report asserting that the African country was on the brink of bankruptcy.
“From all perspectives, the article is inaccurate, biased and designed to do maximum damage to Zimbabwe,” Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa said in a statement published by the state-owned Sunday Mail.
The Financial Times article published last week cited a British government report as saying that Zimbabwe’s reserves had dwindled dramatically and the country’s debt arrears could worsen if economic measures were not taken to reverse the situation.
The report prompted the British Foreign Office spokesman to say: “We are concerned about the Zimbabwean economy and we have urged them to work closely with donors and international financial institutions.”
But Murerwa denied the country was in arrears in its debt servicing and said that discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank for aid were ongoing.
“Zimbabwe has continued to honour its obligations. For the record, there is, however, a small amount $9.3-million outstanding related to government-guaranteed debt which government will ensure is met,” Murerwa said.
President Robert Mugabe on Saturday attacked British media predictions that his government and the economy were collapsing.
“In spite of the economic difficulties, we are moving on,” he told a closing session of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) congress.
“No problem should be a problem incapable of solutions to us,” he said. — AFP
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