Grace Mugabe, the wife of Zimbabean President Robert Mugabe, is living it up in Malaysia while the general population are suffering an economic crisis.

Grace Mugabe is believed to have drawn $92,000 (U.S. dollars) from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to fund the trip.

A similar amount was withdrawn by Mrs Mugabe in June when she went on a shopping spree while on a visit with her husband to attend a UN food and agriculture conference.

Mugabe will join his wife and their four children in Malaysia on Monday.

A government spokesman said he was not going on holiday but was taking time to reflect on the crisis facing Zimbabwe.

Aside from economic woes, a cholera epidemic is sweeping the country and has already killed 1,700 people.

Mugabe and several officers in the Zimbabwean military, as well as Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono, have reportedly transferred most of their assets to Malaysian and Singapore.