Zimbabwe to borrow $1.9b from G7 countries to repay debt

Zimbabwe plans to borrow 1.9 billion dollars from the Group of 7 industrialised states to clear its debts to the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank.

According to the Finance Minister, Mthuli Ncube, who made this known on Monday, 19 August, Zimbabwe immediately after clearing the debt, would seek 1 billion dollars from the two multilateral financial institutions to repay the G7 debt.

The Herald newspaper reported that the minister said Zimbabwe also expected the Paris Club, whom it owes 2.8 billion dollars, to forgive part of the debt.

The G7 is made up of the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Canada, Germany and Japan.

Mthuli said Zimbabwe’s total external debt stood at approximately 8.5 billion dollars as at end of June 2019.

According to the Nation, the debts, owed for over a decade now, have prevented the country from accessing fresh capital from the multilateral financial institutions to help revive the economy.

This is despite the fact that the country in 2016 cleared its 108 million dollars arrears with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).