On Thursday, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa met with officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to discuss the possibility of support from these two institutions.
The meeting was in light of Zimbabwe’s request for an IMF Staff Monitored Program, which is part of a plan to clear arrears and resolve debt with multilateral and bilateral creditors that was agreed upon earlier this year.
If successfully implemented, the roadmap is expected to help Zimbabwe clear its debt to creditors and unlock new funding from global financiers.
According to Abebe Aemro Selaisse, the IMF director responsible for the African department, Zimbabwe has requested a Staff Monitored Program through which the IMF can provide support to the government in terms of policy advice and technical assistance. The IMF is ready to initiate this program as soon as the government is prepared.
Both the IMF and the World Bank suspended aid to Zimbabwe over two decades ago as part of Western sanctions related to the country’s land reform program, which involved the government taking farmland from white farmers to resettle landless blacks.
The meeting also included World Bank Zimbabwe country director Nathan Belete and Zimbabwe’s Minister of Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion Mthuli Ncube.
