/ 28 November 2005

Zimbabwe pays further $10m to IMF

Zimbabwe last Friday paid an additional $10-million to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as it seeks to move out of the red, with only $25-million now outstanding under the critical General Resources Account (GRA), the state-controlled Zimbabwe Herald newspaper reported on Monday.

It said Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor Gideon Gono had confirmed the payment at the weekend, adding that a total of $67-million had also been paid towards the procurement of fuel, grain, power imports, seed and other critical requirements.

Efforts to get comment from the country’s Minister of Finance, Dr Herbert Murerwa, proved fruitless, the newspaper said.

The payment to the Bretton Woods institution brings to $155-million the amount paid by the country this year alone, it added.

Zimbabwe came close to being expelled from the IMF in September but made a surprise payment of $120-million before the meeting, prompting the fund to give the country a six-month reprieve.

An additional $15-million was remitted at the end of September. – AFP