Zimbabwe Wins IMF Monitoring Deal in Key Step to Clear Arrears

Zimbabwe, after years of talks with the International Monetary Fund, has secured a 10-month staff-monitored program, a crucial step toward clearing billions of dollars in debt arrears.

“The SMP is intended to establish a credible track record that supports the authorities’ re-engagement efforts and complements their broader strategy toward arrears clearance and debt restructuring, including eventual access to external concessional financing,” the IMF’s Wojciech Maliszewski, who led its staff team’s mission to Zimbabwe, said in a statement on Friday. “Continued progress on reforms, together with strengthened policy credibility and improved transparency, would help lay the groundwork for more substantive discussions with international partners on arrears-clearance and debt restructuring modalities in the near term.”