Posted By Own Staff Thursday, 04 February 2010 08:41

HARARE (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund will decide later this month on whether to restore Zimbabwe's voting rights in the fund, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said on Wednesday.

Biti told Reuters in an interview that the move was in response to positive  reforms implemented by the unity government formed last year by arch rivals President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

"There is a general understanding and support for the restoration of  Zimbabwe's voting rights. The IMF executive board will meet this month to decide on the issue," Biti said.

"We were pushing for the restoration of Zimbabwe's voting rights in the IMF. The U.S. will support us, and we made similar requests to Germany and the UK, who will also support us in this regard."

Zimbabwe, which Biti said needs at least $8 billion to reconstruct its battered economy, had its voting rights suspended by the IMF in 2003 over policy differences with Mugabe's overnment.

The country is emerging from a decade of economic decline which critics of Mugabe blame on his policies such as the seizure of white commercial farms to resettle landless blacks. It registered better-than-expected GDP growth of 4.7 percent in 2009.

Source http://af.reuters.com