Mugabe wants $5 billion in aid
Published:Thursday | March 19, 2009 | 6:19 PM
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has requested $5 billion in international aid to revive his nation\'s broken economy.
Hyperinflation, food shortages and massive unemployment have brought Zimbabwe\'s economy to collapse.
The government has recently launched a short-term Emergency Recovery Programme in the capital Harare.
The wide-ranging recovery plan lifts stringent price controls that have fuelled black marketeering and inflation.
It also calls for reviving agriculture, which has been devastated under Mugabe\'s land reform programme, as well as mining, manufacturing and tourism.
Australia has since pledged $6.4 million dollars in aid to the Zimbabwe government.