The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that for Zimbabwe to receive financial support, it has to clear its arrears with the international financial institutions as well as with bilateral creditors.
This was revealed by the IMF’s representative in the country Patrick Imam in an interview with The Herald Business. Said, Imam:
Before Zimbabwe can receive financial support from the IMF, it needs to clear its arrears with the three international financial institutions, namely the African Development Bank, European Investment Bank and the World Bank.
In addition, the country also has arrears towards bilateral creditors such as Germany, which have to be addressed as well. This is typically treated in the context of the Paris Club.
In addition, consideration of any future request for IMF financing would also require Zimbabwe to readily implement strong macroeconomic policies and structural reforms to restore fiscal and debt sustainability, foster private sector development by reducing the cost of doing business and reducing policy uncertainty.
Much of what needs to be done on that front is already articulated in the TSP.
On your second question regarding the political reforms, the international community has made it clear that it wants to see a two-track reform process.
Economic and political reforms should be moving hand-in-hand, and not sequentially. But the political reforms are not part of our mandate, and therefore I cannot comment on it.