Zimbabwe is using this week's International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, to push for international backing to clear its arrears and restructure its debt. Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube is leading the delegation.

The meetings run from 12 to 18 October. According to the state-owned Herald, which cited an update from the Ministry of Finance, the delegation has met senior World Bank officials. These included the regional vice president, Ndiame Diop, and Adriano Ubisse.

Why arrears matter

For more than two decades, Zimbabwe's unpaid arrears to international lenders have shut it out of most cheap, long-term development finance. Until those arrears are cleared, institutions such as the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) cannot lend in the normal way.

The government says it is trying to turn better macroeconomic stability into what the ministry calls "a credible, financed pathway towards arrears clearance and debt restructuring". According to the Herald, Harare wants coordinated support from development partners, including possible bridge financing to pay off the arrears. It is also seeking engagement on possible IDA assistance, "subject to applicable requirements and approvals".

The numbers Ncube is presenting

Ncube set out the government's case in a post on his X account, which the Herald reported on 13 October. He spoke after a "Zimbabwe Roundtable" on the sidelines of the Bangkok meetings.

"I shared the progress Zimbabwe has made in restoring macroeconomic stability, with economic growth reaching 8,3 percent in 2025 and projected at 5 percent in 2026," he said, according to the Herald. He also said ZiG inflation had fallen to 3.7 percent year-on-year in September 2026. Revenue collections reached US$5.3 billion in the first half of the year, he said, 30 percent above target.

The minister highlighted the IMF Staff-Monitored Programme (SMP), an informal arrangement under which IMF staff track a country's reforms without lending to it. He said all five quantitative targets and four structural benchmarks had been met by the end of June 2026. The final review of the SMP is expected in December, and the government describes that as a key milestone.

Farm compensation

The headline figure is land compensation. Ncube said US$820 million had been paid to former farm owners. He also pointed to "ongoing land tenure and governance reforms".

Compensation for farmers whose land was taken during the land reform programme that began in 2000 has long been one of the conditions creditors and Western governments set for normalising relations. The government presents the payments as proof that it is committed to resolving property rights disputes and rebuilding investor confidence.

"These milestones shows Zimbabwe's commitment to building investor confidence, strengthening economic stability and laying a firm foundation for arrears clearance, debt resolution and sustainable development," Ncube said, according to the Herald.

What happens next

The figures above come from the government. Zimbabwe Grapevine has not independently verified them, and neither the IMF nor the World Bank has published an assessment of this week's talks.

The main dates to watch are the SMP's final review in December and any statement from lenders on bridge financing. Until a financing plan is agreed, Zimbabwe's arrears remain in place, and so do the limits on the concessional lending they block.

For ordinary Zimbabweans, the outcome matters because cheaper development finance would pay for roads, power and water projects that the government currently has to fund from its own revenue or from more expensive borrowing.

We will update this story when the IMF, the World Bank or the Ministry of Finance publishes further details from the Bangkok meetings.

Sources: Herald, 14 Oct 2026: https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/zimbabwe-steps-up-global-campaign-to-clear-debt-arrears-unlock-funding-2/ · Herald, 13 Oct 2026: https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/new-zimbabwe-pays-us820-million-to-former-farm-owners-as-debt-resolution-drive-gains-momentum/