Sanctions crippled our capacity to own our international obligations, Zimbabwe's finance minister

Zimbabwe’s finance minister Patrick Chinamasa on Sunday blamed international sanctions for the financial meltdown that has forced the government to delay wages of soldiers and civil servants as President Robert Mugabe faces rare popular protests.

Speaking at the African Union summit in Kigali, Rwanda , Chinamasa said that his country was stifled by the economic sanctions imposed in the early 2000s on his country by the West.This,in retaliation to the alleged violations of human rights by Harare.

“Our industry sector collapsed, the formal corporate structure collapsed and it translated itself into informal sector. So we have now a situation where revenue collection from the informal sector is not easy. We need to come up with new policies,” he added.

Breton Wood institutions, have frozen their financial assistance since Harare defaulted in 1999, making it difficult for the country to clear its $1.8 biillion debt it ows to the International Monetary Fund, African Development Bank and World Bank in a bid to unlock new funding.

Donors say they will only budge if Zimbabwe establishes satisfactory governance and economic reforms.

The IMF said on Thursday it was still far from a financial programme with Mugabe’s government, which would need to resolve issues of governance, accountability, transparency.

Reuters