Zimbabwe gets access to $91,2 million after clearing IMF debt
Zimbabwe’s coffers have been boosted after the country got access to $91,2 million, which had been held for seven years pending the settlement of overdue obligations to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Last week, Zimbabwe cleared its overdue obligations to IMF, when it paid $107,9m after drawing down its special drawing rights (SDR) holdings kept at the fund. The payment unlocked the SDR 66,4 million ($91,2m), which has been held in an escrow account pending the clearance of Zimbabwe’s arrears to the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT).
IMF resident representative to Zimbabwe, Christian Beddies confirmed that Zimbabwe had accessed the escrowed money,
. . . the amount held in escrow is indeed SDR 66,4 million, which became available to Zimbabwe after settling the overdue obligations.
Beddies said after the settling of the PRGT arrears using SDRs, Zimbabwe now has a balance of SDR 80,4 million (about $110 million) in SDR holdings. He however said that the clearance of the PRGT arrears would not result in direct financing, as the executive board has to lift the remaining remedial measures imposed on Zimbabwe because of the arrears.
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