Zimbabwe finance minister Mthuli Ncube. Picture: AFP/FABRICE COFFRINI
Ncube, a Cambridge University-trained economics professor, has reined in state spending and boosted tax revenue. Still, the introduction of a new currency in June, accompanied by a ban on the use of the dollar, has seen the rapid erosion of spending power with the Zimbabwe dollar now trading at almost 10 to the dollar after its predecessor, a quasi-currency known as bond notes, was officially said to be at parity as recently as February.
Under a debt-settlement plan, which Ncube said he’s discussing with creditors, Zimbabwe would complete an International Monetary Fund staff-monitored programme in January. It would then: