HARARE, (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s new unity government is  broke and cannot meet union demands for higher wages, Prime  Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said yesterday.

Addressing a May Day rally, Tsvangirai said the government  he formed with veteran President Robert Mugabe in February to  try to end a political and economic crisis that has brought  Zimbabwe to ruin would maintain the current $100 it is paying   its workers a month.

“This government is broke, and we are only able to pay the  $100 allowance, but when things improve, we want this allowance  to graduate into a proper salary,” he said.

“For now, everyone, all of us, including President Mugabe,  is getting $100,” he added.The unity government has appealed for billions of dollars  from the West to help revive Zimbabwe’s shattered economy, but  Western donors such as Britain want to see further progress in  implementing a power-sharing agreement before considering  large-scale aid for the shattered country.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti, who held talks in London on  Thursday with Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Africa  Minister Mark Malloch-Brown, said his country was receiving $400  million in credit lines from African states to revive its ailing  industry.

Although the funds from African states may help, Zimbabwe is  in dire need of aid from Western donors, who have demanded broad  economic and political reforms, including ending a new wave of  farm invasions targeting the few remaining white farmers.