'Zanu-PF not to blame for economic collapse'

Zanu-PF government led by President Robert Mugabe is not to blame for current socio-economic meltdown.

The culprits are Western countries led by Britain which imposed a cocktail of economic sanctions, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa has said.

Chinamasa made the claims during  British Broadcasting Cooperation (BBC) Hard Talk show.

"Zimbabwe up to the sanctions was able to meet its international obligations.

"We had a functioning economy by that functioning economy was undermined by the sanctions which crippled our capacity to honor our international obligations" he said.

The West imposed the sanctions in 2003, reacting to allegations of gross human rights abuses and electoral fraud levelled against Mugabe's administration.

Zimbabwe is re-engaging international financial institutions to tap into cheap lines of credit needed to reboot the economy.

A team from IMF was in the country last month to discuss the current economic situation and solutions.

Zimbabwe has an external debt of over $10 billion which has militated chances of accessing cheap lines of credit.

The country has presented term sheets on how it would clear its combined $1,8 billion debt to the three preferred creditors — IMF, World Bank and the African Development Bank.

Clearing the debt would be the first step in the country's plans to liquidate its total external debt.

According to Chinamasa who is cue in London, Zimbabwe's standoff with the west arose from the fast-track land reform programme.

Hundreds of white commercial farmers where violently removed from their farms.

The land was parcelled out to mostly Zanu-PF supporters who are struggling to fully utilise the land.