Business / Economy
IMF will not resume lending to Zimbabwe anytime soon
24 Mar 2011 at 10:31hrs | Views
The IMF has told Zimbabwe to contain public sector wage demands to avoid stoking inflation and reiterated it will not resume lending until Harare clears its arrears, a Finance Ministry official said on Thursday.
State workers, who earn an average $200 a month, are pressing for a doubling of their salaries, putting pressure on authorities already spending 70 percent of revenues on wages.
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team is in Harare for annual consultations with the government and has warned that the wage demands could push the southern African nation back into an inflation spiral. The team ends its mission on April 1.
"The mission noted progress in the economy but is very worried by public sector wage demands. They want the government to exercise restraint in this area to avoid inflation shocks," a Finance Ministry official who attended some meetings with the IMF team told Reuters.
State workers, who earn an average $200 a month, are pressing for a doubling of their salaries, putting pressure on authorities already spending 70 percent of revenues on wages.
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team is in Harare for annual consultations with the government and has warned that the wage demands could push the southern African nation back into an inflation spiral. The team ends its mission on April 1.
"The mission noted progress in the economy but is very worried by public sector wage demands. They want the government to exercise restraint in this area to avoid inflation shocks," a Finance Ministry official who attended some meetings with the IMF team told Reuters.
Source - Byo24News
