Zimbabwe risks 'deep humanitarian' crisis, IMF warns

Zimbabwe faces a grim economic outlook this year and is also at risk of an extreme humanitarian crisis, the International Monetary Fund warned Thursday.

An IMF team issued the warning after experts visited the southern African country and met with officials there.

Zimbabwe's economy has been in a slump for more than a decade, with chronic shortages of cash, fuel, medicines and food, and shops are now even running out of cornmeal, a main source of nourishment.

The worst drought in 40 years has added to the misery, and more than half of the country's 15 million people are suffering food shortages.

"Executive directors noted with concern that Zimbabwe is facing an economic and humanitarian crisis exacerbated by policy missteps and climate?related shocks," an IMF statement said.

"With another poor harvest expected, growth in 2020 is expected at nearly zero with food shortages continuing," the global lender added.

The IMF said while government's 2020 budget provides "a significant increase in social spending, it is likely insufficient to meet pressing social needs.

"Absent a scaling up of donor support, the risks of a deep humanitarian crisis are high."