The IMF said cash-strapped Zimbabwe is to ask for debt forgiveness, which would condemn it to the status of a "poor country".

In its latest report, the IMF said Zimbabwe was in a state of "debt distress'' and was preparing a request for debt relief in terms of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries protocol.

The move to declare bankruptcy has been a cause for fierce debate in Zimbabwe's turbulent unity government. Finance Minister Tendai Biti has argued for the appeal to the IMF, calling it a viable option for easing the country's debt woes.

The IMF said that, after ''intense debate'' within the Zimbabwean government, ''consensus is emerging that mineral wealth alone would not be sufficient to achieve debt sustainability''.