IMF suspends technical assistance

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has adopted a declaration of non-cooperation for Zimbabwe and suspended its technical assistance because it isn't dealing with its arrears payments adequately. An IMF statement said the declaration of non-cooperation was one of the remedial measures used with members who fail to settle overdue financial obligations. As of 12 June 2002, Zimbabwe owed about US $132 million - about US $74 million to the IMF's general department, and about US $58 million to the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) trust, the statement said. Zimbabwe first incurred arrears to the IMF in mid-February 2001. On 24 September 2001, the country was declared ineligible to use the general resources of the IMF and removed from the list of countries eligible to borrow resources under the PRGF. Zimbabwe paid US $1.6 million in 2001 and US $3 million in the first half of 2002 but arrears have increased after that. The fund's executive board had urged the Zimbabwean authorities to adopt an economic adjustment programme to help the country restore economic and financial stability. It also offered to help the authorities design the necessary policy measures. The board will review Zimbabwe's arrears in three months and if Zimbabwe has not strengthened its cooperation with the Fund it would consider suspending its voting and related rights in the fund. Zimbabwe is already dealing with a warning by the World Food Programme (WFP) that at least 6 million people could face food shortages this year through drought and the disruptions to commercial farming by the land acquisition programme. Meanwhile, opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai slammed what he called police brutality in the country. He said 170 MDC activists had been arrested in Buhera south, in the east of the country, and 100 MDC youths in Harare during a rally over the weekend. The Daily News reported that riot police used batons and teargas to break up the Harare rally. Tsvangirai said: "These police actions, or rather the actions of ZANU-PF militia, disguised as police action, do not come anywhere near legitimate law enforcement of lawful maintenance of public order." MDC spokesman Pishai Muchauraya also told IRIN the MDC provincial offices in Mutare had been closed by police on Monday and that 100 people had been arrested in Chipinge on the same day on suspicion of being involved in a mass action campaign against the government. Last week the MDC offices in Chimanimani were closed by police. "Things are very dangerous and explosive in Zimbabwe at the moment. There is a crackdown on all our support." In continuing pressure on the media, news agency AFP reported that the Zimbabwe government has set new fees that journalists must pay. Local media organisations must pay Zim $520,000 (US $9,454 at the official rate) to operate, while individual Zimbabwean journalists working for news organisations must pay Zim $6,000 (US $109). The fee for foreign journalists is US $50 and US $100 for application and registration, respectively. Foreign media houses must pay US $2,000 and US $10,000 to operate, a government gazette said. For the IMF press release: http://www.imf.org/external/country/zwe/index.htm