Zimbabwean minister admits quoting wrong Chinese aid figure in his budget, China’s deputy ambassador says
- Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube says the two countries are ‘working on a common accounting mechanism’
- Chinese embassy is correct, deputy ambassador Zhao Baogang says after protesting that the budget understated the aid by US$133 million
Zimbabwe has admitted understating the amount of financial aid that Beijing gave to the Southern African nation in the first nine months of this year, according to Chinese officials.
A statement issued by Zimbabwean Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said officials from both sides met on Wednesday and reached an agreement on the facts and figures issued by the Chinese embassy on Tuesday and the 2020 National Budget Statement.
The Chinese embassy in Harare put the figure at US$136.8 million and urged the Zimbabwean government to “make a comprehensive assessment of the bilateral support figures and accurately reflect the actual situation when formulating the budget statement”.
The statement by Ncube, which was issued after the meeting with Chinese officials on Wednesday, said that “the two sides agreed to continue working on a common accounting mechanism”.
It did not, however, specify the accounting formula to be used or the exact amount that Beijing has advanced to Zimbabwe between January and September 2019.