Harare, Dhu-AlQa'dah 11, 1436, August 26, 2015, SPA -- In an uncharacteristically affirmative speech, President Robert Mugabe said Tuesday he hopes Zimbabwe's recent re-engagement with the West will bolster the nation's struggling economy, according to dpa. "My government values the re-engagement of the western world in the Zimbabwe economy," Mugabe, usually a harsh critic of Europe, Britain and the United States, said during a state of the nation address in the capital, Harare. The 91-year-old said he hopes the former British colony will get financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Relations have been strained since western nations questioned the legitimacy of Zimbabwe's 2002 elections, which Mugabe's party won in a landslide, and criticized government for human rights abuses. Poverty has continuously increased in Africa's former "bread basket" in the 15 years after a mass expulsion of experienced white farmers sent the economy into a downward spiral. Economic growth is expected to reach 1.5 per cent in 2015, a year hit by drought and falling prices of some of Zimbabwe's main exports, such as gold and platinum, according to the IMF. --SPA 02:52 LOCAL TIME 23:52 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w