Zimbabwe has won more than $1-billion in credit lines from around Africa, but is still struggling to find financial support for the government budget, a top minister told reporters on Wednesday.
”The $1-billion dollars has already been surpassed,” Economic Planning Minister Elton Mangoma told reporters.
The African Development Bank has provided more than $500-million in credit, as has the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank, Mangoma said.
Zimbabwe has also won private lines of credit from companies in South Africa, he added.
Those credits will be available to private companies as they seek to jump-start their operations after a decade of economic freefall that has impoverished this once dynamic nation.
The unity government formed three months ago is still struggling to win desperately needed cash to finance its operations, with schools, hospitals and other basic services barely running.
”On issues of budgetary support we have not been successful,” Mangoma said.
Zimbabwe’s new Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said the government is bankrupt, and has been lobbying for $8,5-billion in aid over three years to revive the economy.
Since the unity government took office, hyperinflation has disappeared as the country abandoned its local currency. Prices now expressed mainly in US dollars are declining slightly, and goods have returned to store shelves.
But with 94% unemployment, most of the nation is still dependent on international food aid as few people have cash to buy even simple goods. — Sapa-AFP