An International Monetary Fund (IMF) fact-finding team in Zimbabwe is on Wednesday due to hand over a report to officials from President Robert Mugabe’s government which could question whether the country can retain its membership, state radio reported.
”Government officials will meet a delegation from the Bretton Woods Institution in Harare today [Wednesday], with speculation on whether Zimbabwe will be able to retain its membership in the International Monetary Fund,” the radio station said.
The report by the IMF team follows on a week-long visit.
Zimbabwe has been making strenuous efforts to pay back its debt arrears to the global lender before a March deadline which could see the country expelled from the IMF.
The authorities paid back another $15-million just before the IMF team arrived in Harare, leaving it with $136,7-million left to pay. Just over $16-million must be repaid in the next two months.
But state newspapers — generally seen here as the voice of Mugabe’s government — have already dismissed the IMF as an ”insincere partner”.
This week’s Sunday Mail said the IMF team was already working on a ”damning” report and urged the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono to be ”cautious” in his dealings with the visiting officials.
Gono has stressed the importance of paying back Zimbabwe’s debt but some critics believe the money could be better spent paying for vital imports such as fuel and food.
EU extends sanctions
Meanwhile, the European Union has extended sanctions on Zimbabwe, including an arms embargo and visa ban, by a year, according to final conclusions released on Tuesday from this week’s meeting of EU foreign ministers.
The EU imposed a travel ban on the veteran Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and around 100 officials from his authoritarian regime for alleged vote-rigging in a disputed 2002 presidential poll.
An arms embargo has also been in place since that February on any weapons or equipment that could be used by the military or for internal repression.
The sanctions are now scheduled to run until February 20, 2007. – Sapa-DPA, Sapa-AFP