The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced Wednesday that it had resumed technical assistance to Zimbabwe, a step toward ending the African country's isolation from the international community. The IMF action could allow new financial aid to Zimbabwe for the first time in years. Following meetings with the new unity government in the impoverished country, the IMF “decided to lift the suspension of Fund technical assistance to Zimbabwe in targeted areas,” the IMF said in a statement. The IMF said it noted “considerable improvement in Zimbabwe's cooperation on economic policies” to address its problems over arrears, which total $133 million. The IMF decision followed consultations after Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai took office in February as part of a unity government with long-serving President Robert Mugabe, whose government was blacklisted by the international community and was nearly expelled from the IMF over arrears. Tsvangirai made a priority of trying to restore ties with international lenders, and the IMF sent a team to Zimbabwe one month after he took office. It was the first IMF mission to the country since 2006.
