Harare — Zimbabwe should not be hamstrung by the US$700 million debt it inherited from the Rhodesian Government in 1980 and should move to ensure the reparations are paid.

A Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development workshop yesterday resolved that it was unfair for this country to carry the burden of a debt that had not been of its own making.

The debt had grown over the years to haunt the economy.

In 1980, the Zimbabwean Government took over the debt, which consisted of US$594 million of private sector debt, US$98 million of bilateral debt and US$5 million of multi-lateral debt which required about US$65 million in annual debt servicing.

By 1987 debt servicing had grown to 35 percent of export earnings.

Participants to the conference, who included debt experts, lawyers and journalists, were all in agreement Zimbabwe did not need to repay the debt. Senator for Chisipite Obert Gutu also attended the workshop.

"Why should the present Zimbabwe pay for what the colonial Government did," quipped Ingrid Naess-Holm of the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development.

The workshop, which ends today, is meant to sensitise the media on the Zimbabwe debt situation.

Zimbabwe is saddled with a US$5,7 billion debt, a situation that has exacerbated its economic challenges.

Much of the debt was accrued between 1991 and 1995 under the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme which resulted in US$3,5 billion in new loans over three years.

The new loans also proved more expensive than had originally been anticipated, as a result of exorbitant interest rates and exchange rate movements.

The workshop felt that strategies needed to be employed urgently to redress Zimbabwe's debt position.

Indications were that the debt could grow to US$7 billion by 2011 if it went unchecked.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti is largely expected to announce measures on debt in his 2010 national budget statement scheduled for presentation later this month.

In his Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review statement, Minister Biti said as at December 31 2008 total external debt stood at US$4,7 billion of which Government owed US$3,6 billion while the balance was accounted for by parastatals and the private sector.

About 65 percent of the external obligations were in arrears.

Zimbabwe has not received balance of payment support from the IMF since 1999 while other lenders had also adopted a similar stance.

However, current efforts to woo financiers are expected to yield results.

So far, the country has benefited from the Special Drawing Rights allocated to IMF members.