As well as payment arrears, Zimbabwe's poor rating reflects mismanagement which has brought the economy to the brink of collapse.

ECONOMIST: Country risk ratings

In November, it rescheduled previous payment arrears.

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Also today, the Assembly was informed that Tajikistan had made the necessary payment to reduce its arrears.

UN: General Assembly

"That was a group of people who had a good track record of payment and pretty low level of arrears, thrust into a position where they are now is significant arrears, " said Mr Forbes.

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It has promised to take into account the results of the Direct Payment pilots, which show increased levels of rent arrears, before the rollout of direct payments nationwide.

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In practice the new system meant arrears could accumulate for as long as three months before the landlord receives the first payment directly from the local authority, it said.

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By and large, businesses welcomed this tidying up, even though they will pay more tax during a four-year transition to a new system of payment, under which big firms will pay tax quarterly on a current-year basis, rather than in arrears as now.

ECONOMIST: Gordon Brown’s progress | The