adminHarare Bureau
ZIMBABWE is in talks with China over a “comprehensive financial aid package”, according to Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa.
The country is going through a lean spell with Treasury reporting low receipts which have seen the government postpone to April an agreed pay rise for its 230,000 workers.
But speaking during the signing ceremony of a $23 million infrastructure grant from China, Minister Chinamasa said he expects a deal to be in place with the Asian giant within three months.
The rescue package is not part of the US$23 million availed on Tuesday.
“During the visit, we agreed that the government of the People’s Republic of China and the government of Zimbabwe are working towards a comprehensive financial package and committed ourselves to finalising the matter within three months,” said Minister Chinamasa.
Last week, a Ministry of Finance official Jonah Mushayi told a business conference that the country required $27 billion for economic recovery, whose roadmap is outlined in the five-year Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim Asset) policy document.
Mushayi said the government would be approaching local and international donors to fund the implementation of ZimAsset.
The 2014 national budget of $4,1 billion is not seen as capable of financing the ambitious ZimAsset programme, with most of the budget set to go towards salaries.
The $23 million grant, which was signed between Minister Chinamasa and Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Lin Lin, is expected to finance infrastructure construction in rural areas.
Minister Chinamasa said the grant would go towards the construction of clinics and primary and secondary schools in resettlement areas.
Other projects to be funded under the grant include borehole drilling and acquisition of meteorological equipment.
Online Reporter