24th April, 2018
Zimbabwe is considering issuing between 2.5 billion dollars and 3.5 billion dollars in sovereign bonds and use some of the money to clear arrears to foreign lenders, Deputy Finance Minister Terrence Mukupe has said.
Mukupe said in Harare on Tuesday, that the southern African nation would use export receipts from tobacco, gold and horticulture to repay the bond planned to be launched after elections set for July.
“The position that we have is that during post-election, we should be able to put in place a sovereign or export-related bond and we think we should be able to raise between 2.5 billion dollars to 3.5 billion dollars,” Mukupe said.
During a speech in London on Monday, Foreign Minister Sibusiso Moyo said his country was committed to clearing about 1.8 billion dollars in arrears with the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) before it taps other sources of financing.
Zimbabwe has not received funding from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and AfDB since it defaulted on its debt in 1999.
Under President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who succeeded Robert Mugabe last November, Zimbabwe is trying to mend ties with the West, including rejoining the Commonwealth.