US lifts sanctions on Zimbabwean banks

Two Zimbabwean banks have been removed from the US sanctions list. Agribank and the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe have now been fully removed from the US sanctions list, allowing them to do international business more easily and obtain lines of credit. A report on the IoL site notes that both institutions were placed under US sanctions in July 2008. In April 2013, sanctions were partially lifted subject to limitations. In February 2016, they were removed from the sanctions list, but the licence requirements remained. These have now been removed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury with immediate effect. The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation reported that Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said the removal would help the banks access credit lines, ‘so this is a very welcome development indeed’.