The debt kept mounting because of the Zanu (PF) administration was unable to make regular repayments of principal debt, which was US$1,3 billion in 2002.
Now the new government between MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe is inheriting the huge bill and will be required to clear the arrears before accessing new funding from world lenders who are also committing resources to the devastating global financial crunch.
Zimbabwe, mired in the worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1980, has experienced dwindling supplies of foreign currency because of strained relations with multilateral lenders and the collapse of its agricultural base, the country's major hard currency
earner.
The southern African country has been unable to access balance of payments support since 2000 following human rights abuses by Mugabe's administration.
The IMF in 2007 came very close to expelling Zimbabwe after repeatedly failing to pay back loans advanced to it. The central bank saved the day at the last minute after clearing the arrears.