Business Reporter
FINANCE and Economic Development Minister, Prof Mthuli Ncube has dispatched a US$2,5 billion begging bowl in escalated efforts to clear the country’s arrears.
Zimbabwe’s public debt continues to rise, driven primarily by mounting arrears and penalties on long-defaulted international loans, reaching a total of over US$23 billion. The debt is officially classified as being in “external and overall debt distress,” which restricts the country’s access to new, low-cost international financing.
Speaking to a state run daily paper this week, Ncube said he was pursuing a new strategy in clearing the debt.
“During the Spring Meetings in Washington DC, we had extensive engagements with development partners, creditors, as well as IMF and World Bank officials, to concretise our roadmap for arrears clearance,” he said.
Central to the strategy is the identification of “sponsors” — typically foreign governments, international financial institutions or private financiers — who can provide bridging finance and technical support to help Zimbabwe clear its arrears.
Such sponsor-backed arrangements are critical because they enable countries in arrears to access short-term funding to settle overdue obligations, thereby unlocking fresh lines of credit and re-engagement with international lenders.
Zimbabwe is seeking at least US$2, 5 billion in bridging finance to clear arrears owed to multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, African Development Bank and the European Investment Bank.
“We need champions who can support us with bridging funding for the US$2,5 billion. We are engaging various countries on that and we met some of them while we were in Washington,” said Prof Ncube.
“So the process of identifying these champions, these advocates, is ongoing alongside the staff-monitored programme.”
