The European Union has expressed its support for the economic stabilisation measures unveiled by Zimbabwe’s government, as well as ongoing debt resolution steps.

Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister, Mthuli Ncube has introduced a series of measures such as banning government departments and agencies from collecting their levies in foreign currency and scrapping duty payments on all basic commodities imports.

The steps are part of efforts to enforce broad usage of the Zim Dollar following depreciation on the parallel markets which saw rates weakening to US$1: ZWL 2 500, The Zimbabwe Mail reports.

In addition, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has sold $39 million worth of gold-backed crypto, approximately 14 billion Zimbabwean dollars, in a bid to stabilise the economy and reduce the ongoing depreciation of the local currency against USD. This is despite warnings from the International Monetary Fund, Crypto Briefing reports.

The EU head of delegation to Zimbabwe, Jobst von Kirchmann has praised the measures being taken by the government, via arrears clearance and macro-economic interventions.

“The measures taken last Thursday to stabilise the exchange rate and macro economy, represent another expression of commitment and of ownership of a sovereign country who lives up to the image that only Zimbabweans know what is best for Zimbabwe,” he commented.

“We want Zimbabwe to succeed in its vision 2030, and I believe that the high-level platform for arrears clearance and debt resolution, as initiated by the government, is a crucial component of this effort,” he added.

Von Kirchmann went on to say that topics included within the arrears clearance and debt resolution platform are macroeconomic stability, exchange rates and good governance, amongst other factors.

“I would like to commend the government for their leadership and ownership of this initiative.

“From its own strategies and plans, the government is proposing to measure success according to international indicators that cover essential governance aspects, such as democratic elections, civil society space, freedom of expression, assembly, and association, as well as the impartiality of the judicial system, to name just a few,” Von Kirchmann continued.