The IMF will continue talks with Manuel next week at an IMF conference in Tanzania, Strauss-Kahn told reporters in Johannesburg via a video link from Washington. The fund is also preparing to send a team to Zimbabwe, Antoinette Sayeh, head of the lender's Africa department, said at the press conference.
Zimbabwean Finance Minister Tendai Biti met with his regional counterparts in Cape Town last month, where he requested $2 billion in aid over the next 10 months to address a humanitarian crisis and revive the economy. Zimbabwe has the world's highest inflation rate, estimated at 231 million percent, while more than half the population is in need of food aid, according to the United Nations.
The southern African nation still has outstanding debt to some donor countries and financial institutions that will have to be repaid before new aid can be released, Sayeh said.
We have a mission going out to Zimbabwe to take stock of the situation, to discuss with the new authorities their policy ambitions and reform agenda, to be able to assess whether the international community can then come in and support, she said.
The African Development Bank said on Feb. 26 that Zimbabwe owes it $460 million, which must be repaid before it can resume lending. The IMF estimates Zimbabwe's arrears to the fund are $130 million.
Bloomberg
Post published in: News