IMF Gives Gono US$510 Million


Harare, Zimbabwe, 04 September 2009

The IMF, apparently buckling to pressure from Mugabe and the continued insistence of ZANU PF that they must give him money to revive the economy or he will not stay the course on reforms in Zimbabwe, has deposited US$400 million into the coffers of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

Another US$110 million will be deposited into the Reserve Bank next wee, bringing the total to half a billion US Dollars.

Gideon Gono was ecstatic this morning, telling the media:

"Yes, I can confirm that the Reserve Bank did indeed receive the funds as responsible advisors, we are consulting widely before anu utilisation."

"We have been in constant delicate discussions with the IMF technical teams over the past few months abd I am pleased to now say we have gotten somewhere."

It is significant that the the announcement today is made by Gideon Gono, who is taking credit for the windfall in the state media, relegating Tendai Biti to the role of a sidekick.

Gono told the media:

"As Governor, I have already communicated to my principals in Government this good news and have specifically invited my honourable Minister of Finance for us to discuss the modalities of operationalising usage of these funds."

But Gono could not resist a subtle dig at Tendai Biti:

"All we kindly ask of our stakeholders is that we rise above personality issues and work as a nation."

He went further:

"As a central bank, we express our high indebtness to the IMF technical teams for their valuable professionalism, and the entire IMF Board and management for their continued trust in the Reserve Bank's capacity to handle and manage developmental resources."

Clearly, Gideon Gono is the one in controll of this money and it remains to be seen whether anything comes from it at all.

It also appears that even Morgan Tsvangirai was unaware of this development when he held his press conference on Tuesday this week, where he was asked about sanctions and replied that for any money to come in, Mugabe would have to address issues like the appointment of the Reserve Bank governor and the Attorney General as well as the swearing in of Roy Bennett.

Still, this money is far from adequate for the tasks facing Zimbabwe. The government says it needs US$8 billion in total.

But to hear the state media and ZANU PF go on, you realise that they have suddenly got a seond wind, and no thanks to the MDC, is the impression they are giving.

Comments

  1. I would like to point out that the 'loan' is actuall drawing rights, which are given to all members. If you go to the following link (http://www.imf.org/external/np/tre/sdr/proposal/2009/0709.htm) you will see that all nations in the world received the money, not only zimbabwe

    ReplyDelete
  2. @Farai: You are right, of course, but the point is that this money has been deposited into the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, and Gono today in the Herald is making it out that:

    1. Tendai Biti and the MDC were lying when they said the IMF would not disburse money to the RBZ as long as Gono is Gono

    2. That Tendai Biti and the MDC will have to be forced to deal with him because the money is in his custody

    3. That the payment of the money means that the IMF has expressed confidence in the RBZ and in him as Governor to "handle developmental funds"

    4. That there is no longer any reason, expect "the politics of personalities" for the MDC to ask Mugabe to fire him.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Quite true but knowing GG he'll be spending all that money in a flash!

    Most likely they will use the money for 'campaign purposes i.e. to purchase inputs for the farmers, offer better salaries etc.

    If Biti was smart, he would use the above fact to wrangle some money from the MDC's sponsors to counter GG

    But i doubt that will happen

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Comments from Anonymous Users will NOT be published

Popular posts from this blog

Who Killed Elliot Manyika?

Another Tsvangirai Family Accidental Death

Zimbabwe: Petition To Free A Two Year Old Toddler From Prison