SOUTH AFRICA DECLINES ZIMBABWE US$1.2 BILLION LOAN REQUEST
Zimbabwe’s US$1.2-billion loan request rejected; South Africa says it doesn’t have “that kind of money”
A spokesman for the finance ministry in South Africa today said , South Africa rejects the request from its neighboring country Zimbabwe for US$ 1.2 billion loan.
The national spokesman Jabulani Sikhakhane said, “South Africa did not have that kind of money”.
Zimbabwe’s governments have hoped the loan could have help to stabilize the economy and maybe even resolve fuel shortage in the country.
Zimbabwe was struck by anti-government protests last week after a hike in fuel prices stoked anger over an economic crisis.
According to GlobalPetrolPrice.com, the new prices mean Zimbabwe now has the most expensive fuel in the world. This will bring an economic hardship to Zimbabweans.
The death toll due to the protests have increased from three (3) to twelve (12). Especially in the capital, Harare and Bulawayo, its second-largest city.
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on Sunday via twitter that he would return home from an European tour and skip the World Economic Forum in Davos to address this crisis.