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Domenico Fanizza

Harare Bureau
THE International Monetary Fund has expressed satisfaction with policies adopted by the government in implementing the Staff Monitored Programme, visiting IMF Head of Mission Domenico Fanizza has said.

The IMF team is in Zimbabwe to carry out the second review of the SMP that the government embarked upon in 2013 as part of measures to assist the country clear its debt with multilateral institutions.

Fanizza said this soon after meeting with the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Finance and Economic Development on Monday. “The policies under the programme have been relatively good. The application of policies has been consistent with what Zimbabwe has promised under the programme.

“The Zimbabwe government has made effort to lay down the basis in the growth of the economy and make progress with the re-engagement with creditors,” Fanizza said.

He said the fund was satisfied with reforms made in the financial services sector, among others.

“A number of important reforms in the financial sector have taken place and we welcome that and also reforms in the labour legislation which makes it more flexible,” he added.

Fanizza said he hoped that the upcoming meeting of the IMF, World Bank and the African Development Bank and the government in Lima, Peru, during the IMF and World Bank annual meetings will come up with clear-cut strategies on how Zimbabwe can clear its arrears with multilateral institutions.

“I hope the meetings in Lima between the Zimbabwe authorities; the IMF, the World Bank and the AfDB will discuss and propose strategies to clear the arrears. That is an important step which if successful will pave the way for future re-engagements which will start a new ambitious programme for economic reform,” he added.

Chairman of the Committee and Mutoko South representative David Chapfika said Zimbabweans were awaiting the outcome of the meeting in Lima.

“As Zimbabweans we are awaiting the Lima Conference with anxiety particularly with regards to rescheduling of debts as it will create fiscal space for government to redirect resources for capital projects and ailing industries,” Chapfika said.

Zimbabwe owes close to $10 billion in external debt, half of it in arrears.

The IMF has been in the country since the end of last month.

Apart from the reforms that the government has initiated in the financial services sector, there have also been moves to reduce the civil service wage bill that is gobbling over 80 percent of revenues.