Zimbabwe uses loan to buy fuel from Kuwait

Zimbabwe uses loan to buy fuel from Kuwait

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By Staff Reporter

OIL-STARVED Zimbabwe has received 25.7 million litres of fuel from Kuwait under a deal financed by French bank BNP Paribas, a state weekly reported on Sunday.

"Zimbabwe has taken delivery of 25.7 million litres of fuel worth $15-million (about R108-million) under the $50-million facility which the country recently signed with French bank BNP Paribas," the Sunday Mail reported.

National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim) chief Zvinechimwe Churu told the weekly that 8.5 million litres of petrol and 17.5 million litres of diesel were being brought in from the Mozambican port city of Beira.

"The product (diesel) is being pumped from Beira and we have already received the full consignment of petrol," Churu said.

"Since the supplies are now in the country, the arrangement is for the public and the private sector to access the product. However, first priority will be given to certain sectors of the economy, especially agriculture, as the country gears up for the forthcoming season."

In May, Zimbabwe signed a $50-million loan deal with French bank BNP Paribas to purchase fuel and ease shortages that are threatening to bring the economy to its knees.

Under the deal signed in the capital, Zimbabwe's Bindura Nickel Corporation (BNC) put up a percentage of its export earnings as a guarantee for the loan.

Zimbabwe requires $40-million a month to meet its fuel demands.

The supply, the first under the deal, was sourced from Independent Petroleum Group of Kuwait, which bagged the tender, Churu said.

Zimbabwe has been struggling with fuel shortages for nearly seven years due to a foreign currency crunch.

The shortages have spawned a burgeoning black market where private importers sell the commodity for as much as double the government-fixed price of Z$320 (about R9.20) per litre of diesel and Z$335 for petrol.

The government blames the shortages on sanctions imposed by the United States and European nations on President Robert Mugabe and his inner circle following presidential elections in 2002 which the opposition said were rigged. - Sapa-AFP

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