IMF restores Zimbabwe’s voting rights
4:14pm GMT, Monday, 22 February 2010
The IMF demonstrates a show of confidence in Zimbabwe as it restores its voting and related rights. The IMF demonstrates a show of confidence in Zimbabwe as it restores its voting and related rights.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has decided to restore Zimbabwe’s voting and related rights in a move that shows growing confidence in one of Africa’s most troubled nations.
The IMF said the decision followed a request from Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Tendai Biti.
As well as restoring its IMF voting rights, which were suspended in 2003, its eligibility to use resources from the IMF’s General Resources Account (GRA) has also been reinstated.
Since 2001, the world organisation which oversees the global financial system, has kept a close eye on the nation and that same year the IMF declared Zimbabwe ineligible to use the general resources of the IMF, and removed it from the list of countries eligible to borrow resources under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF).
A number of other restrictions were imposed on Zimbabwe by the IMF as Robert Mugabe’s allegedly corrupt government continued to increase problems for the financial stability of the country.
Only since the formation of a coalition government between Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party and opposition party MDC-T, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, have events taken a marginally better path.
After a visit in October 2009, Vitaliy Kramarenko, who led a team from the IMF to review Zimbabwe’s progress, said there were signs of recovery.
“The economy has begun to recover in 2009, albeit from a low base. Since early 2009, the government has broadly adhered to cash budgeting, achieved a significant improvement in budget revenue, established a multi-currency system, and largely liberalised prices and the exchange system,” commented Kramarenko.
However, Kramarenko warned that there was still a lot of work to be done in rebuilding Mugabe’s country: “The key challenge going forward is to build the necessary support for policies that would ensure sustainability of the nascent economic recovery and improvements in living conditions for Zimbabweans.”
However, the European Union is seemingly less optimistic about Zimbabwe’s future as it renewed sanctions – namely an asset freeze and visa ban on around 200 individuals – against the country for a further 12 months, citing a lack of progress by the new unity government.
4:14pm GMT, Monday, 22 February 2010
The IMF demonstrates a show of confidence in Zimbabwe as it restores its voting and related rights. The IMF demonstrates a show of confidence in Zimbabwe as it restores its voting and related rights.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has decided to restore Zimbabwe’s voting and related rights in a move that shows growing confidence in one of Africa’s most troubled nations.
The IMF said the decision followed a request from Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Tendai Biti.
As well as restoring its IMF voting rights, which were suspended in 2003, its eligibility to use resources from the IMF’s General Resources Account (GRA) has also been reinstated.
Since 2001, the world organisation which oversees the global financial system, has kept a close eye on the nation and that same year the IMF declared Zimbabwe ineligible to use the general resources of the IMF, and removed it from the list of countries eligible to borrow resources under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF).
A number of other restrictions were imposed on Zimbabwe by the IMF as Robert Mugabe’s allegedly corrupt government continued to increase problems for the financial stability of the country.
Only since the formation of a coalition government between Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party and opposition party MDC-T, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, have events taken a marginally better path.
After a visit in October 2009, Vitaliy Kramarenko, who led a team from the IMF to review Zimbabwe’s progress, said there were signs of recovery.
“The economy has begun to recover in 2009, albeit from a low base. Since early 2009, the government has broadly adhered to cash budgeting, achieved a significant improvement in budget revenue, established a multi-currency system, and largely liberalised prices and the exchange system,” commented Kramarenko.
However, Kramarenko warned that there was still a lot of work to be done in rebuilding Mugabe’s country: “The key challenge going forward is to build the necessary support for policies that would ensure sustainability of the nascent economic recovery and improvements in living conditions for Zimbabweans.”
However, the European Union is seemingly less optimistic about Zimbabwe’s future as it renewed sanctions – namely an asset freeze and visa ban on around 200 individuals – against the country for a further 12 months, citing a lack of progress by the new unity government.