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Minister Chinamasa

Business Editor
As part of efforts to come up with options on how the country’s arrears with Multilateral Institutions will be cleared, a Quadripartite Committee which comprises of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the International Monetary Fund, African Development Bank and the World Bank has been set up.

Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa told journalists last evening that the committee which will be chaired by the RBZ governor Dr John Mangudya and comprising of some Government officials was set up as part of Zimbabwe’s re-engagements efforts and to firm up on the roadmap aimed at resolving the country’s debt overhang.

Zimbabwe owes $1,4 billion to the World Bank, $639 million to the AfDB and $120 million to the IMF while the total external debt was $7,1 billion at the end of 2014.

The Government has, however, been making token payments on a monthly basis to the institutions.

The country is also undergoing the Successor Staff Monitored Programme with the IMF as part of the strategy to resolve the debt issue.

“This strategy is a vehicle for establishing a track record of sound economic management in the country so as to unlock new financing for our development requirements,” said Minister Chinamasa.

He added: “Pursuant to deliberations at the IMF/World Bank spring meetings, it was agreed that a committee be constituted to deliberate on the options that we have to clear the debt. Such a committee was inaugurated on May 4, 2015.”

Minister Chinamasa said the committee will provide its feedback report in October during the IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Lima, Peru.

Executive directors of the World Bank Group Africa; Dr Louis Peter Larose and Mahomed Rafique are in the country to have a first-hand appreciation of the challenges the country is facing on the infrastructure front as well as the adverse impact the lack of access to capital is having on capacity utilisation of private sector companies.

The directors, who will be in the country till tomorrow will tour companies in Bulawayo and the Midlands province such as Appollo Tyres (Dunlop), Archer Clothing, Bata and Zim Glass.

They will visit the National Railways of Zimbabwe, the Cold Storage Commission as well as tour Mpilo Hospital and Bulawayo Water Works.

Dr Larose in a briefing to the press noted the efforts by Government to reform the civil service and strong commitment to implement economic reforms and to accelerate growth. He said efforts to reform parastatals should be pursued.

“The current lack of new financial flows to jump-start economic growth is also well noted. It is therefore imperative that efforts towards debt relief and the clearance of arrears especially to the Bretton Woods Institution and the AfDB be pursued vigorously and be treated with urgency.”

Mr Rafique, who is also an executive director at AfDB said Zimbabwe needs to clean up its past in order to get new money. He also said the country needed to implement policies which are workable.

“We are pleased to be here and to be part of the process. For it to be successful the country needs to link what it says to what it does. It needs a strong private sector able to pay taxes and a strong Government which is able to implement policies,” said Mr Rafique.