Zimbabwe receives boost from IMF

The International Monetary Fund is giving Zimbabwe $400m to boost its foreign currency reserves.

However, a further $100m will be kept in a special account and Zimbabwe's government will not have access to it until it has cleared $1bn in debts.

Zimbabwe is in dire need of cash to rebuild its battered economy.
BBC Southern Africa correspondent Karen Allen says Zimbabwe's financial crisis has been partially blamed on mismanagement of central bank funds.

Zimbabwe owes money to the IMF and other international creditors.
The IMF said it made a deposit of 262m Special Drawing Rights ($409m), the IMF's own unit of currency, to Zimbabwe's account with the IMF.

It said there would be no conditions attached to this allocation of funds.

However, it said 66m SDRs ($103m) would be held in an escrow account until its arrears had been cleared.

The funding is part of an agreement reached at the G20 summit in London in April, which pledged to strengthen the IMF's reserves by $250bn.

All 186 members of the IMF will receive funding in relation to their IMF quota or voting rights, a spokesman said.