{"id":16026,"date":"2012-10-31T08:17:05","date_gmt":"2012-10-31T06:17:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/10\/update-1-imf-eases-restrictions-on-zimbabwe-allows-economic-monitoring\/"},"modified":"2012-10-31T08:17:05","modified_gmt":"2012-10-31T06:17:05","slug":"update-1-imf-eases-restrictions-on-zimbabwe-allows-economic-monitoring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/update-1-imf-eases-restrictions-on-zimbabwe-allows-economic-monitoring\/","title":{"rendered":"UPDATE 1-IMF eases restrictions on Zimbabwe, allows economic monitoring"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

(Adds details, background)<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON<\/span> Oct 30 (Reuters) – The International Monetary
\nFund on Tuesday relaxed restrictions on technical assistance to
\nZimbabwe, opening the way for an IMF staff-monitored economic
\nprogram.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The move marks a major step toward normalizing relations
\nwith the southern African country.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“The executive board has decided to resume IMF technical
\nassistance in certain new areas to support Zimbabwe’s
\nformulation and implementation of a comprehensive adjustment and
\nstructural reform program that can be monitored by the staff,”
\nthe IMF said in a statement.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

While Zimbabwe is still not able to tap IMF funding, easing
\nthe restrictions moves it in that direction. The IMF would want
\nto see a track record of sound policies by the unity government
\nof President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
\nbefore it agrees to a lending program.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The IMF suspended Zimbabwe’s voting rights in 2003 over
\npolicy differences with the Mugabe government and payment
\narrears to the global lender. The voting rights were restored in
\n2010, allowing Zimbabwe to again participate in IMF
\ndecision-making.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

In its statement, the IMF said its board of member countries
\nagreed there had been “significant improvement in Zimbabwe’s
\ncooperation on economic policies and renewed commitment to
\naddress its arrears problems.”<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

IMF technical advice to Zimbabwe will now be extended to
\ncover tax policy and administration, public financial management
\nand expenditure policy, financial sector and central bank reform
\nmeasures, monetary and exchange policies, and economic
\nstatistics.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The country faces a huge debt burden. Its total external
\ndebt is estimated at $10.7 billion, or 113.5 percent of GDP, at
\nthe end of 2011. More than half of it is in arrears.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Zimbabwe is still emerging from a decade of economic decline
\nand hyperinflation. The economy has slowly been on the mend
\nsince the formation of a unity government in 2009, and the
\ngovernment recently projected growth of 8.9 percent in 2013.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

However, there are concerns over upcoming elections due next
\nyear given Zimbabwe’s recent history of violent and disputed
\nelections. <\/p>\n

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Leslie Adler and
\nPhil Berlowitz)<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\t\t\u00a9 Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Adds details, background) WASHINGTON Oct 30 (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday relaxed restrictions on technical assistance to Zimbabwe, opening the way for an IMF staff-monitored economic program. The move marks a major step toward normalizing relations with the southern African country. “The executive board has decided to resume IMF technical assistance in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[830,2370,183],"class_list":{"0":"post-16026","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-news","8":"tag-reuters","9":"tag-south-africa-2","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16026\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}