According to New Zimbabwe.com, Mugabe gave no detail on how the country’s economy was recovering but said that the country was regaining its status as the breadbasket of southern Africa.

“We are going to leverage on diamonds and other minerals, alongside agriculture, so that together they drive our economic recovery trajectory. Our economy is slowly on the rebound, I am sure you will agree we are improving,” Mugabe was quoted as saying.

Mugabe’s utterances came less than three months after the International Monetary Fund issued a bleak assessment of Zimbabwe’s economic situation, and advised that government spending on wages and agriculture were unsustainable.

“The expenditure profile tilted towards employment costs and unsustainable agricultural support is inhibiting investments in other priority sectors,” the IMF said in a statement in July.