Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has said that Zimbabwe is waiting to get funding from the African Development Bank (AfDB) next year as it moves to clear its US$605 million debt with the institution.

He waa speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing 54th Meeting of Boards of Governors of the AfDB and the 45th Annual Meeting of the African Development Fund in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. Ncube said, “We are expecting it (funding) end of January or February next year because the roadmap requires Staff Monitored Programmes from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and we signed up to go through test dates and the last test date is in December or January next year and at that moment, if all goes well, will finally access the monies.”

He urged Zimbabweans to be patient as the positive results of the Transitional Stabilisation Programme will take time to be felt. He said,

“my message to the people of Zimbabwe is that; please be patient. We cannot have a silver bullet with these things, the positive impact of the reforms takes time and we are in the right path and again we should be patient.”