Tsvangirai claims Zimbabwe inflation 'under control'
Zimbabwe prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai claims country's hyper-inflation has been brought under control
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Tuesday, 23, Jun 2009 02:41
Zimbabwe prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai has claimed the country's hyper-inflation has been brought under control since he came to office.
Mr Tsvangirai was sworn in as the country's prime minister in February bringing to an end a long-fought and bitter political battle with Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe.
He told an audience at the Royal Society of Arts in London today that since he had been in office conditions in the country had improved "significantly" with children back in schools and hospitals re-opened.
Appearing to reference Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party, the leader of the Movement for Democratic change said that to move forward as a country "you need peace and stability and that is only able to arise when former enemies are able to embrace each other".
Mr Tsvangirai has come in for strong criticism in recent weeks for agreeing to former a power-sharing government with Mr Mugabe and was booed during a speech at Southwark cathedral during the weekend when he called on all his fellow countrymen to return to Zimbabwe.
The prime minister was in defiant mood on Tuesday though, claiming: "I promise never to rest until Zimbabwe has been purged of acts of violence.
"We will build Zimbabwe around democracy free elections [and] universal and generic freedoms."
Zimbabwe has suffered from hyper-inflation and mass unemployment in recent years and claims it still needs around $8 billion (£4.9 billion) in aid to help revive its failing economy.
On Monday, British prime minister Gordon Brown pledged an extra £5 million in aid for the country.