The International Monetary Fund has delayed Zimbabwe’s possible expulsion for unpaid debt, giving the southern African country six months to turn around its economy, the state-run Herald said on Thursday.
Quoting Zimbabwe’s central bank governor, Gideon Gono, the paper said the decision not to expel Zimbabwe was reached on Wednesday in Washington by a majority of members on the IMF board of executive directors.
“The verdict from the fund comes as good news upon which greater efforts will be put [by Zimbabwe] to further consolidate the gains made so far,” Gono told the paper.
Zimbabwe, which has been gripped by severe economic problems for the past six years, was facing possible expulsion as a member of the fund over unpaid debt amounting to about $290-million by February.
The IMF stopped lending money to Zimbabwe in 1998 because it disagreed with various government policies.
Late last year the central bank launched a new monetary policy, which has seen inflows of foreign currency into government coffers improve and an official decrease in the rate of inflation, from over 600%, to around 400% in May.
An IMF research team that visited the country in March hailed the fact that Zimbabwe repaid six million dollars of the $290-million total.
It said Zimbabwe would continue to repay 1,5 million dollars every three months.
However, the team also noted that the country’s gross domestic product had shrunk by 30%, school enrolment was down by 65%, and unemployment and poverty were up.
The Herald quoted Gono as saying Zimbabwe would use the six-month grace period to improve exports, repay international creditors and increase productivity. – Sapa-AFP
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