South Africa has announced that the government is ready to help Zimbabwe settle up with the International Monetary Fund. Joel Netshitenzhe, a spokesman for Pretoria, said that "the cabinet has approved in principle a loan agreement with Zimbabwe to pay off its IMF debt." He did not mention the specific amount of the deal but clarified that "it is much lower than the one-billion-dollar figure that has been touted in the press … or even be as low as one-tenth of that." The IMF earlier told Zimbabwe that it faces the risk of becoming the second country to be expelled from the fund if it fails to service its debts soon. According to Netshitenzhe?s estimates, the fund?s deadline falls on the early part of September.
Sources:
South Africa to bail out Zimbabwe (BBC)
South Africa to bail out Zimbabwe from IMF expulsion (AFX)
