Zimbabwe’s economy is now expected to grow 3.7 percent this year, from an initial projection of 1.7 percent, the finance minister was quoted as saying by the state-owned Herald newspaper on Friday.

The southern African nation’s economy stagnated last year following a devastating drought while its budget deficit exploded as President Robert Mugabe’s administration struggled to pay its workers, which helped fan anti-government protests.

(Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Tiisetso Motsoeneng)