Herald Reporter

Finance Minister Tendai Biti has said he is "fairly optimistic" that the IMF will restore Zimbabwe’s voting rights when it meets to discuss the issue in Washington tomorrow.

The Minister leaves for the United States today for the crucial meeting.

Yesterday, he said the meeting was "very important" because not having voting rights was one step short of total expulsion from the organisation.

The IMF suspended Zimbabwe’s voting rights in the late 1990s after the country failed to settle its arrears.

The suspension has been viewed by observers as a technical way of imposing political sanctions to squeeze Zimbabwe’s economy.

Minister Biti said: "We are fairly optimistic that things will go our way. We have done our homework, we have lobbied hard. Once we cross that hurdle we can start talking about other issues such as our arrears and how to go around that. Some hard questions are going to be asked about our empowerment regulations, the civil service wage bill that currently stands at about 70 percent of the national budget, and the sustainability of the stabilisation programmes that we have implemented.

"Of course, these questions will really be about the sustainability of the inclusive Government."

Minister Biti had said Zimbabwe received guarantees of support from the US – which is the largest shareholder – as well as Britain, France and Germany.

He also said he had got encouraging support from key IMF bureaucrats when he visited the US in late January.

Zimbabwe has a 0,22 percent shareholding, which in itself is not significant but the ability to use it means the country can negotiate on extension of finance. Minister Biti will be accompanied by senior officials from the Finance Ministry.

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