Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with officials of the Republic of Zimbabwe on that country's rate of inflation.

​We regularly discuss Zimbabwe's serious economic problems with its government, including rising inflation fuelled by monetary financing of the budget deficit. We agree with the May 2017 IMF recommendations for the government to take urgent action to curtail public expenditure and refrain from further central bank financing. Zimbabwe urgently needs to embark upon a comprehensive package of reforms through full re-engagement with the International Financial Institutions. We have been clear that this will require genuine commitment to reform in both the economic and governance spheres. Our Ambassador in Harare raised this with the Minister of Finance in April.