How Zimbabwe will use the US$1 billion from the IMF

With Zimbabwe leading the continent on vaccination figures and the economy stabilising by the day, there is much to look forward to as we continue with our wholesale reforms.

And with the world focusing on vaccinations to the terrible Covid-19 pandemic, Zimbabwe is set to receive its own vital shot in the arm, an economic shot.

Economic growth is already expected to reach around 7.8% this year and inflation is dropping by the day.

With this in the background, the IMF’s declaration that Zimbabwe will have access to deploy nearly US$1 billion in special drawing rights, is just the booster this economy needs.

This move is a truly encouraging vote of confidence from the international community in the New Zimbabwe, its reforms, and its positive direction.

How we spend these funds is vital. We intend to focus the SDRs (Special Drawing Rights) on areas that support this robust economic recovery and importantly support key social programmes. Allocation can thus be broken into four main areas:

• The social sector; covering health, education, and the social safety nets;
• The productive sector; supporting agriculture, industry and manufacturing, and the mining sector;
• Infrastructure investments, and
• Contingency resources, and foreign currency reserves for supporting macro-economic stability going forward.

These SDRs will therefore target the areas that have been hit hardest by the pandemic, and provide a crucial lifeline to the most vulnerable members of our society, many of whom are yet to the feel trickle down effects of the macro-economic stabilisation.

While the majority of these programmes will roll out simultaneously, perhaps the vaccine acquisition is the most urgent.

Zimbabwe has been one of the most proactive and successful countries in Africa at dealing with the pandemic, and as the uptake for vaccination increases, Government will need to be on the ball with the funds to acquire more.

In the realm of health, the current pandemic has underpinned the importance of upgrading our critical hospital infrastructure, especially our central hospitals.

We will therefore be investing in hospitals across the land, while purchasing new equipment ensuring quick and quality healthcare to many who need better access.

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