HARARE A coalition of European secular, faith-based and developmental organizations is campaigning for a moratorium on repayments of Zimbabwes bloated debt to Western countries but wants financial sanctions against President Robert Mugabes ruling cabal maintained until there are reforms in the southern African country.
The Brussels-based Zimbabwe Europe Network (ZEN) said in recommendations to Friends of Zimbabwe donors meeting held in Copenhagen last week that Western countries should support a moratorium on debt repayments to allow an independent and transparent debt audit in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is saddled with a massive foreign debt which Finance Minister Tendai Biti said last month was estimated at about US$6.9 billion or 106 percent of the countrys Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Harare also owes close to US$1 billion in arrears to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and African Development Bank (ADB). Economists and the IMF have contended that the only way Harare could pull itself out of its current debt trap is through international debt
forgiveness.
An IMF staff paper published in July said Zimbabwe was in debt distress and warned that neither the right economic policies nor its mineral wealth could immediately resolve the countrys large debt problem. IMF staff estimated that Zimbabwes foreign debt is projected to reach 151 percent of GDP by 2015, with 104 percent of GDP in arrears. Economists fear that if current economic policies continue and donor financing is largely confined to humanitarian assistance in the medium term, Zimbabwes large debt stock would remain unresolved and debt would continue to pile up.
But to win debt relief Zimbabwe would need to improve ties with the international community and qualify for a global scheme for heavily indebted poor countries that would lead to debt cancellation after a two-year economic programme.
Zimbabwe has struggled to win donor support despite the formation of a coalition government last year while private capital inflows have fallen over concerns about a government plan to force foreign-owned firms to sell majority shares to locals.
The IMF and other multilateral financial institutions have slowly reengaged with Zimbabwe to try and help fix the economy but refuse to lend money to the country until the government shows it is willing to implement policies that stabilize the economy. ZEN said the Friends of Zimbabwe should also strengthen support for the transition towards a new Zimbabwe, including working for legislative and institutional reform, especially security sector reform, transitional justice and healing.
It said future donor assistance should focus on support on human rights and governance, including for monitoring the inclusive government and greater transparency in the extractive industries.
ZEN also urges quick and enhanced support for civic society efforts in countermanding fear, and mitigating and exposing violence, the group told Friends of Zimbabwe, a loose coalition of rich Western nations, the IMF, World Bank and ADB. This comes in the wake of allegations of increased abuse and intimidation of Mugabes opponents by solders and militias aligned to his Zanu (PF) party.
Soldiers have allegedly deployed in rural areas in a move to strike fear among hapless villagers ahead of polls tentatively set for next year. ZEN said Western donors should continue the appropriate and targeted measures, including the travel bans on individuals responsible for human rights violations, until the GPA (global political agreement) obligations are fulfilled. The GPA is the power-sharing pact between Mugabe and former opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai which led to the formation of the coalition government 22 months ago. Mugabe has however refused to implement the GPA, insisting instead on the removal of the targeted Western sanctions slapped on himself and more than 200 Zanu (PF) officials and companies linked to the party.
Post published in: News