ZIMBABWE’S arrears clearance and debt resolution process is on track after Treasury paid over US$170 million to external creditors during the first six months of the year.
Statistics from treasury seen by the ZBC News show that the payments were on legacy debts, development partners, as well as multilateral global bank loans.
Treasury describes the external payments as important in opening new opportunities for access to funding for the National Development Strategy Two projects.
In December 2022, President Emmerson Mnangagwa set up a Structured Dialogue Platform with all the creditors and development partners to facilitate continuous engagement on the arrears clearance and debt resolution process and analysts have hailed treasury for its commitment to the agenda.
“There is a lot that needs to be done to further the current steps being made by the Government of Zimbabwe. The clearance agenda should foster relations between Zimbabwe and the external creditors, as we have seen, whereby the government is engaging the creditors. It speaks volumes about commitments to pay, which is the hallmark of rebuilding trust and confidence and restoring relationships at a time when treasury is mobilising resources to scale up projects across the country,” University of Zimbabwe Business School’s Director, Professor Albert Makochekanwa said.
“Since 2022, strides have been made in extinguishing the external debts, while the token payments are being made in line with the need to balance existing resources and revenues. The trend sends positive signals to the global community about the commitments by Zimbabwe. This is a crucial step as it further reveals the importance of honouring debts, remember this is being made as the Second Republic intensifies the engagement and the reengagement strategy which is key to overall growth,” development economist, Dr Prosper Chitambara added.
Treasury statistics show that as at the end of December last year, Zimbabwe’s total debt stock stood at over US$20 billion.
The thrust to repay the debts is expected to create opportunities for Zimbabwe to access fresh sources of funding from global financiers.
