IMF chief not ready to lend to Zimbabwe

The International Monetary Fund is still not prepared to resume lending to Zimbabwe, the head of the body said on Wednesday, citing concerns about the country’s political situation.

“We are not yet at the point where resuming lending is possible,” IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn told reporters after a two-day visit to South Africa.

He said he discussed Zimbabwe during his talks on Tuesday with South African President Jacob Zuma, who said that aid should resume flowing to Harare.

“We are happy to help. We are ready to help, but ...

as long as the political situation will not make it possible to come back on track in terms of arrears and governance, it will be very difficult for us to come back,” Strauss-Kahn said.

Zimbabwe owes about $140-million in arrears to the IMF.

The organisation last month restored Zimbabwe’s voting rights after a seven-year suspension, but said the impoverished country would not be able to access loans until the arrears are settled.

Zuma, southern Africa’s mediator in Zimbabwe, has lobbied for western nations and multi-lateral lenders to resume aid to Harare, where a unity government took office one year ago to curb political unrest and halt a staggering economic collapse.—AFP