Back to Index

Civics to dicuss Zimbabwe's loan contraction
African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD)
August 05, 2005

HARARE – CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS working on debt and economic justice based in Zimbabwe, namely the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD), the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) and the Poverty Reduction Forum (PRF) are jointly organizing a half day All Stakeholder Meeting on Thursday 11 August, 2005 from 9.30am to 1.00pm to critically discuss issues centered on the Loan Contraction Process and Debt Management Systems in Zimbabwe.

The meeting seeks to identify and discuss existing bottlenecks within the institutional and legislative framework of Zimbabwe that continue to militate against the establishment of an inclusive, participatory, transparent and accountable loan contraction system. It is of paramount importance that key economic stakeholders discuss issues that continue to perpetuate the current economic predicament, stand-off with potential creditors and escalating debt crisis.

The overall objective of this meeting is to ensure that the external loans procured by Zimbabwe are legitimate and serve the basic functions of poverty reduction and sustainable development. It is mere public knowledge that the government should have benchmark priorities for which external public borrowing shall be acceptable. Benchmark priorities must be specific in terms of both type of goods and services for which to engage public borrowing and ceilings for the amount of money that may be borrowed and repaid annually.

Participants
It is envisaged that this All Stakeholder Meeting will, among other participants, be able to invite representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Auditor General’s office, Members of Parliament, especially those in the Public Accounts Committee, multilateral and bilateral creditors, UN agencies based in Zimbabwe, and civil society organizations working on debt, poverty reduction and economic justice issues.

Outputs of the Meeting

• Specific recommendations to policy makers in Zimbabwe on Loan Contraction And Debt Management
• Production of a meeting report with the following aspects:
• Clear definition of the role and responsibilities of various stakeholders in the Loan Contraction Process and Debt Management.
• Identification of structural, institutional and legislative issues that need redress
• Public opinion on the subject matter.

Visit the AFRODAD fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP