IMF gives Zimbabwe Sh39bn boost

• According to the IMF, Zimbabwe received US$408.7 million on August 28 and another US$103 million will be deposited into the central bank’s account by Monday.

HARARE  

The International Monetary Fund has given Zimbabwe a windfall of more than US$500 million (Sh39bn) after almost a decade of financial restrictions imposed on the economically troubled country.

This follows the injection of US$283 billion into the global economy to boost member countries dwindling foreign exchange reserves due to recession.

According to the IMF, Zimbabwe received US$408.7 million on August 28 and another US$103 million will be deposited into the central bank’s account by Monday.

The deposit will bring the total to US$512.3 million, making it the biggest financial injection the unity government led by President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has received since its formation in February.

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor, Gideon Gono whose unilateral re-appointment by Mugabe last year has become one of the major stumbling blocks in the full implementation of the political deal that led to the formation of the unity government, confirmed the fresh injection of funds.

"Yes, I can confirm that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe did indeed receive the funds and as responsible advisors to government, we are consulting widely before any utilisation,” Gono told the official Herald newspaper.

"We have been in constant delicate discussions with IMF technical teams over the past few months and I am pleased to now say that we have gotten somewhere," he said.

Zimbabwe has appealed for more than US$8.3 billion over the next three years to revive its industries whose production capacity had tumbled to less than 10 percent before the formation of the inclusive government.

The government projects that its economy will grow by 3.7 percent this year despite the difficult operating environment.

The Southern African country last received financial assistance from the IMF in 1999 when it approved a standby facility of US$193 million of which only US$24 million was disbursed.

The balance never came Zimbabwe’s way with the institution saying it was not happy with some of government’s policies.

But the latest moves by the IMF move is expected to spur other multilateral institutions to open Zimbabwe’s lines of credit, analysts said.