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Harare - The African Development Bank (AfDB) is set to help Zimbabwe settle its arrears to the bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
Addressing a joint press conference on Tuesday, Sibry Tapsoda, the head of the AfDB mission in Zimbabwe said the financial institution had set aside some funds to assist Zimbabwe to clear its arrears.
According to the Daily News, Tapsoda said the amount was yet to be agreed as it required approval from the AfDB board.
The IMF has since said it will not lend more money to Zimbabwe, because the country is in arrears on repaying previous loans.
The latest developments is thus expected to put Zimbabwe in good stead to push for debt relief with multilateral and other bilateral creditors.
Zimbabwe’s total arrears to the three institutions is approximately $1.8bn with $601m of that being owed to the AfDB.
Speaking at the same press conference, Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa said the AfDB funds are available until December 2016 and the government is making efforts to access the grant and clear the arrears by the end of this year.
Overall Zimbabwe has a debt overhang of about $10bn, most of it owed to international lenders.
