Government to clear $1.86bn debt

The Zimbabwean government announced today that they intend to clear around $1.86 billion in international debt by the first quarter of 2016.

Minister of Finance, Patrick Chinamasa, said that the payment will clear debts from several international creditors, including one of the main creditors for Zimbabwe, the International Monetary Fund – or IMF.

It has been a long time since Zimbabwe has paid back any debts incurred to international creditors, since President Robert Mugabe and his government started to default on paying back debts more than 15 years ago in 1999.

The country is also still trying to recover from a disastrous recession that lasted for more than 10 years and finally came to an end in 2008.

Zimbabwe’s debt to the World Bank currently stand at $1.15bn while those to the African Development Bank and IMF are $601m and $110m.