Zimbabwean prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai says progress is being made on ending the deadlock in his country's unity government.
Speaking in South Africa, Mr Tsvangirai said negotiations over the appointment of the attorney-general and the governor of the Reserve Bank, among others, were continuing.
Last month, South African president Jacob Zuma appointed a new team to monitor Zimbabwe's power-sharing government, which has been in office for 10 months.
Meanwhile, the BBC reports that Zimbabwean finance minister Tendai Biti, presenting his first unity government budget, is predicting a healthy economic future for the country.
With growth coming from key sectors like agriculture and mining, he says, the economy will grow by 7% next year, after 10 years of sharp contraction.
Mr Biti says however that there is no return in sight for the Zimbawean dollar - despite calls from President Robert Mugabe and the central bank for its return.
Zimbabwe's biggest economic problem, stratospheric inflation, has been all but halted since hard currencies, such as the US dollar, were allowed.
