Govt Makes U-Turn, Denies Ever Making Request To Borrow $2.5 Billion From China
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Sibusiso Moyo has denied that the government ever engaged China to borrow at least $2.5 billion from major Chineses banks. This is despite the fact that former Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Patrick Chinamasa made statements at the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC) that the government was looking for $2, 5 billion lines of credit. Said Chinamasa then,
We are looking for lines of credit, and we have been having those discussions on the sidelines of 2018 FOCAC, but there is nothing that we can tell until they have come to fruition. We are looking at $2, 5 billion lines of credit to support the entirety of the productive sectors, tourism, mining, industry, agriculture and manufacturing among others.
However, while speaking to The Zimbabwe Independent, Moyo expressed ignorance saying,
We never made a request for that bailout from China. We only read about it in the Press. We, however, agreed on many aspects relating to funding of several infrastructure projects and we are excited about those.
China is reported to have turned down the request due to dissatisfaction after Zimbabwean officials failed to show commitment to settling arrears.
More: The Zimbabwe Independent
