Zimbabwe clears 15-year debt arrears owed IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed on Thursday that Zimbabwe has cleared all its debt and now qualifies for financial aid.

The debt of $107.9 million was in arrears since 2001.

“Zimbabwe is now up to date on all of its financial obligations to the IMF … The country was in continuous arrears since 2001,” IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice said in a brief statement.

The IMF had said last year that it might resume financial support to Zimbabwe in 2016 if foreign creditors accepted Harare’s arrears clearance plan and the government implemented economic reforms to boost growth.

Crisis-hit Zimbabwe owes the World Bank $1.15 billion and the African Development Bank $601 million.

The country spends more than 80% of its revenues on salaries of civil servants.