Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe owes over US$4 billion for food and fuel supplies

By Bloomberg News

Zimbabwe’s central bank has racked up debts of more than $4 billion to banks and companies including commodities giant Trafigura Group and national flag carrier South African Airways.

Those Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe debts relate to the supply of fuel, corn and other goods and services, as the state attempts to prop up the faltering economy. The southern African nation is suffering from market turmoil as new tax rules drive a rebound in the currency, which was previously devalued to tame triple-digit inflation and the world’s highest interest rates.

Trafigura is the No. 2 creditor, owed $66 million, behind another commodity trader Holbud Ltd., which is owed $85 million, according to a report made public Thursday by Treasury’s Public Debt Management Office. SAA, which has been revived after being placed in business rescue, is owed $61 million for airline services.

The central bank’s quasi-fiscal activities have been criticized before by the International Monetary Fund, which has urged authorities to end them. Zimbabwe can’t access credit from international financial institutions as it’s already $17 billion in arrears.

Zimbabwe’s Treasury said it will seek lawmaker approval to assume the central bank’s external obligations. The list of creditors range from individuals, private companies, banks and financial institutions, including the Cairo-based Africa Export-Import Bank.

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Bloomberg News reported last April that Trafigura and Zimbabwe’s government discussed a deal that would give the commodities trader control over output from some of the nation’s biggest mines as repayment for debts.

A spokeswoman for Trafigura declined to comment.