IMF grants 1.3 billion support to indebted Zambia
The Zambian case is a test for over-indebted countries.
REUTERS - Yuri Gripas
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
Zambia, which had declared itself in default of payment during the year 2020 (with an overall external debt of 17 billion dollars), has finally just obtained support from the IMF of 1.3 billion dollars.
The agreement in principle was reached at the end of July when Lusaka announced that it had reached an agreement with its main creditors, China and France in the lead.
The IMF's Board of Directors has just approved the envelope which will be paid over three years.
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The Zambian case is a test for over-indebted countries.
The first country to have defaulted on the repayment of its debt in 2020, Lusaka has since been calling for international assistance.
To reach a solution, it took nearly two years of negotiations with public and private creditors who finally agreed at the end of July to waive some of their demands in exchange for a commitment to reform.
All that remained was for the IMF's board of directors to approve a three-year aid plan.
The role of China and France, who led the group of creditors, was fundamental in the Zambian case.
It remains to be seen whether these creditors will achieve the same result with countries like Chad and Ethiopia, which are also in a critical situation.
In the Chadian case, it is the debt with private oil traders that is still blocked.
Two years after the commitment made by the G20 to help over-indebted countries, the outcome of the Zambian crisis is a relief.
Especially since in the meantime, the number of countries in difficulty has continued to increase.
Ghana, Egypt and Tunisia have seen their public finances deteriorate worryingly in recent months.
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