The possibility of mass strikes loom on the horizon for Zimbabwe’s embattled economy as workers demand higher wages to cushion them against soaring living costs because of hyper-inflation and shortages of foreign currencies. Wage talks opened two weeks ago and were expected to continue until the end of the month in Zimbabwe, where large-scale labour action could become a reality for the first time in eight years, according to unionists.

Zimbabwe has averted expulsion from the International Monetary Fund with a fresh payment on its debt arrears but is far from gaining good standing with the global lender, economists said on Thursday. ”We have got to make a lot of commitments that we will be able to repay new loans and change a lot of political policies that led to our economic problems,” said economist John Robertson.