HARARE, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe has reached a staff-level agreement on a Staff Monitored Program (SMP) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is expected to bolster macroeconomic stability and help the southern African country establish a policy reform track record, Zimbabwean Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said Friday.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the IMF in Harare, the country's capital, Ncube said the proposed 10-month SMP is a critical step toward the country's arrears clearance and debt resolution.
However, the program does not make an immediate provision for funding from the international lender. "We can never have guarantees that financing will be provided, but it's about building a track record that builds confidence in our policy direction and reform agenda, which will then unlock funding," Ncube noted.
Ncube said the SMP, which it requested from the IMF in 2023, is timely and poised to succeed against the background of sound macroeconomic fundamentals, including the achievement of single-digit inflation in almost 30 years, currency stability, and strong economic growth in 2025.
In a statement issued Friday at the conclusion of a staff mission to Zimbabwe, the IMF said its discussions with Zimbabwean authorities focused on ongoing policies and reforms to support an SMP that would help entrench macroeconomic stability, strengthen policy credibility, and advance the authorities' broader re-engagement efforts towards arrears clearance and debt restructuring.
The staff-level agreement is subject to IMF management approval, it added. ■