Hon Tendai Biti addressing in Washington DC

Sunday Mail Reporter

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday unanimously restored Zimbabwe’s voting rights in a move that underlines the international community’s confidence in the political and economic reforms of the unity Government.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti, who made the request to restore the voting rights, was in jubilant mood yesterday, as he celebrated the decision, which he said was a great victory for Zimbabwe.

“Yes, we got back our voting rights. It was a unanimous decision of the 24 directors. There is great excitement here,” said Minister Biti from Washington DC, the United States.

“As a restored member, we can now fully enjoy the privileges of membership. These include access to resources and technical assistance. More importantly, embarking on this step means the beginning of our rehabilitation and re-integration. For instance, in the not-so-distant future it is important to secure decent credit ratings from bodies like Moodies or Spoor & Fisher.

“At a sovereign level, bilateral countries will only look at your standing with the fund. Put simply, the sad reality of modern financial geography is that the fund is the gatekeeper.”

Minister Biti said the gate had been opened for Zimbabwe to deal head-on with the debt arrears that were chocking it.

“As I have argued elsewhere, arrears are the biggest and cheapest excuse or reason for refusal to re-engage Zimbabwe. We therefore need to execute an accelerated arrears debt and development strategy.

“In short, yesterday’s unanimous vote is the opening gambit in the long chess game of development and re-integration. Sadly, many of us don’t understand that like the great game itself, every move is part of an intricate build-up. More importantly, the game is not won in the end game but in the first five moves.”

The restoration of the voting rights raises hope that other financial sanctions on Zimbabwe will also be lifted.

The financial sanctions have been regarded as the most critical and destructive of the embargoes against Zimbabwe.

In a statement after the crucial meeting on Friday, the IMF said the decision meant that Zimbabwe would have the opportunity to negotiate for extension of further funds.

“The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decided today to restore Zimbabwe’s voting and related rights, and its eligibility to use resources from the IMF’s General Resources Account (GRA), following a request from Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Tendai Biti.

“However, the country would have to first take steps to clear its US$140 million debt with the monetary authority.

“Notwithstanding the restoration of the eligibility to use GRA resources, Zimbabwe will not be able to use resources from the GRA or the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) until it fully settles its arrears to the PRGT (US$140 million),” the IMF said.

The country would also have to abide by other IMF conditions.

“Access to IMF lending resources is also subject to IMF policies on the use of such resources, including a track record of sound policies and the resolution of arrears to official creditors, which would require donor support.”

The monetary authority said it was committed to assisting Zimbabwe, adding that it would continue to address other outstanding issues to normalise relations with the country.

Some of the outstanding issues include the non-co-operation, the suspension of IMF technical services and the removal of Zimbabwe from the list of PRGT-eligible countries. In an earlier interview with ZTV, President Mugabe said it was important for the country to craft home-grown solutions to address Zimbabwe’s international debt, which stands at US$5,7 billion, regardless of the restoration of the voting rights.

He said the debt was “really no money” as Zimbabwe could service it by fully utilising its vast natural resources.

“There are some people who think we must become economic Bushmen and go begging on our knees for assistance (to reduce the debt). We say no, that US$5,7 billion is really no money.

“We owe it, yes, but it’s no money if you take what we have by way of resources. Why can’t we negotiate with countries for the debt to be managed otherwise?” he said.

The Government has been making positive steps to reduce the IMF debt as it has been paying quarterly payments of US$100 000 since May last year. The IMF voting rights were suspended in June 2003 after the economy deteriorated and the Government fell behind on debt repayment.

Zimbabwe has 0,22 percent of shareholding and the ability to use it means the country can negotiate for the extension of funds.

Before Friday’s crucial meeting, Minister Biti had told local and international media that the United States, Britain and Germany, three of the IMF’s most influential members, indicated they would support the restoration of voting rights.

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