State media in Zimbabwe on Sunday accused a visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF) team of ”shifting its position” on the debt-riddled country and said the energetic local central bank governor should not try to ”please” the global lender.
The official Sunday Mail newspaper, quoting ”impeccable sources that have been closely monitoring developments between Harare and the IMF” said Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono should be warned that he is dealing with ”insincere partners”.
The Sunday Mail, like its sister paper the daily Herald, closely echoes the government line.
In a front-page report, the ”sources” told the paper that Zimbabwe should not hope for better relations with the IMF following the partial repayment of its debt — something Gono is proud of doing — because the fact-finding team currently in
Zimbabwe is likely to condemn the government’s economic policies anyway.
”The governor seems inclined to please the IMF but he needs to exercise caution about these people and these institutions,” the source was quoted as saying.
”Right now, we hear that the IMF is shifting its position, saying its strained relations with Zimbabwe were not caused by the country’s failure to pay back the money it borrowed but by the country’s fiscal and monetary policies,” the source added.
”This shift in position is worrying,” the source said.
The five-member team from the IMF arrived on Tuesday for a week-long fact-finding visit to the country.
Last week the authorities announced that cash-strapped Zimbabwe had paid back a further $15-million towards clearing its debt arrears to global lender, which now stand at just over $136-million.
Zimbabwe’s central bank governor has pledged to clear a further $15-million debt under the IMF’s critical General Resource Account (GRA) by the end of next month, well ahead of a March deadline.
But the paper reported that Zimbabwe’s repayments were unlikely to improve relations with the institution.
”If, as you say, the authorities intend to clear the country’s (GRA) arrears before the end of next month, I have a feeling that the IMF will still produce a damning report probably focusing on the country’s fiscal and monetary policies that they will say are not good for the country and the region,” the source was quoted as saying.
Zimbabwe’s economy has been in freefall since 2000, when President Robert Mugabe’s supporters began seizing white-owned farms for redistribution to new black farmers. The programme has slashed production in agriculture, once the economy’s backbone.
The economic fallout of the programme has seen inflation spiralling to more than 585%, while poverty and unemployment affect more than 70% of the country’s 11,6-million people.
Economists say a large capital injection of hard currency from international lenders like the IMF would improve Zimbabwe’s economic and social plight, which includes critical shortages of fuel, power and medicines. – Sapa-DPA