IMF Unhappy with Zimbabwe Policies

IMF Unhappy with Zimbabwe Policies

 HARARE — The International Monetary¹ Fund (IMF) said Zimbabwe's large debt remains² a serious impediment to the country's financial future. Ruling out retiring Zimbabwe's $10 billion debt, which is what the country's finance minister had hoped for, the IMF report released late Tuesday said Zimbabwe's economy would slow down this year after two years of high growth. Economic analysts³ said unless the country’s agriculture gets back on track, Zimbabwe’s economy will not stabilize⁴.

The IMF report said Zimbabwe’s high growth rate would slow down to five percent this year because of poor harvests and concerns about upcoming elections that will end the country’s three-year-old fragile coalition⁵ government.

The IMF predicted annual growth slowing to about four percent in the years immediately ahead.

Zimbabwe's economy had grown at a 9.6 percent rate in 2010 and a 9.4 percent rate in 2011.

The IMF report

John Robertson from Robertson Economic Information Services sums up the IMF report which said the country's huge debt remains a serious problem.

“The IMF is trying to promote us or prompt us to makes changes," said Robertson. "They do suggest that they want to see changes before they become more generous with their assistance. And they will not be supporting much in the way of assistance to the country until they see change.”

Ahead of the IMF report, Zimbabwe Finance Minister Tendai Biti was hopeful the institution would be lenient⁶ on the African country.

“We believe that our macro-economic fundamentals are sound, and that there is no reason at all why a positive decision would not be made in our favor," said Biti. "The importance of that IMF decision is that it will enable us to deal with the key issues of arrears⁷ that are the hindrance⁸, [as] are sanctions, against Zimbabwe accessing huge levels of capital finance at the World Bank and the African Development [Bank].”

The IMF said Zimbabwe’s debt now stands at about $10.7 billion.

Recently, Zimbabwe's government refused to adopt the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) status, which would have resulted in the country mortgaging its mineral resources against its huge debt.

Zimbabwe’s agricultural-based economy took a nosedive in early 2000 when the country embarked⁹ on a chaotic¹⁰ and sometimes violent land reform exercise targeting white commercial farmers, seizing their farms, and replacing many of them with peasant farmers. After a decade of decline, the economy has improved somewhat since the creation of a unity¹¹ government in 2009. But Biti has said the recovery will remain weak and precarious¹² until international institutions such as the IMF retire Zimbabwe’s debt.

The IMF and Zimbabwe's debts

Economist¹³ Robertson said the finance minister was wrong to expect IMF to be merciful to Zimbabwe.

"I think the clemency¹⁴ issue was not in any sense a write-off or a forgiveness of debt. The IMF does not do that," said Robertson. "They can give terms to countries that have clearly adopted policies that show that the repayments¹⁵ will become possible because of the new policies. But Zimbabwe has not presented any policies changes that seem to suggest to the IMF that would lead us to a better position from which to repay our debts."

The IMF said addressing Zimbabwe’s debt required strong macroeconomic policies and urged Harare to stop non-concessional borrowing and selective debt servicing since that complicates¹⁶ reaching an agreement with creditors¹⁷. Earlier this month the IMF raised concerns over the failure by Sudan, Somalia and Zimbabwe to honor their commitments to pay their financial debts.

1 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

4 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

5 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

6 lenient   

adj.宽大的，仁慈的

参考例句：

• The judge was lenient with him.法官对他很宽大。
• It's a question of finding the means between too lenient treatment and too severe punishment.问题是要找出处理过宽和处罚过严的折中办法。

7 arrears   

n.到期未付之债，拖欠的款项；待做的工作

参考例句：

• The payments on that car loan are in arrears by three months.购车贷款的偿付被拖欠了三个月。
• They are urgent for payment of arrears of wages.他们催讨拖欠的工钱。

8 hindrance   

n.妨碍，障碍

参考例句：

• Now they can construct tunnel systems without hindrance.现在他们可以顺利地建造隧道系统了。
• The heavy baggage was a great hindrance to me.那件行李成了我的大累赘。

9 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

10 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

11 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

12 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

13 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

14 clemency   

n.温和，仁慈，宽厚

参考例句：

• The question of clemency would rest with the King.宽大处理问题，将由国王决定。
• They addressed to the governor a plea for clemency.他们向州长提交了宽刑的申辨书。

15 repayments   

偿还，报答，偿付的钱物( repayment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The repayments of the loan are spread over 10 years. 贷款可在十年内分期偿还。
• The repayments of the loan are spread over 25 years. 这笔贷款分摊二十五年偿还。

16 complicates   

使复杂化( complicate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• What complicates the issue is the burden of history. 历史的重负使问题复杂化了。
• Russia as a great and ambitious power gravely complicates the situation. 俄国作为一个强大而有野心的国家，使得局势异常复杂。

17 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》