Massive layoffs as government cuts overstuffed civil service

President Emmerson Mnangagwa arrives for the official opening of the ruling party ZANU PF's annual conference in Esigodini, outside Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. [Photo: Reuters]

JOHANNESBURG - Zimbabwe’s government has begun laying off just over 3,000 workers from its youth ministry, as it tries to make good on its promise to cut the bloated civil service and sort out the country’s finances.

Public sector salaries account for more than 90 percent of Zimbabwe’s $4 billion (Sh400 billion) national budget — a situation seen as unsustainable by foreign lenders like the International Monetary Fund, with which Zimbabwe would eventually like to secure an economic reform programme.