Debt restructuring on course

...Mushinga said among the measures undertaken so far is advocating for the total cancellation of loans attached to the debts aimed at serving money towards debts repayment

By Francis Maingaila 

Lusaka (11-08-22-Zambia24) The Ministry of Finance has outlined measures the Zambia government is taking to address the unsustainable debt the country is facing.
Acting director for Investment and Debt Management  Musitala Mushinga told a public discussion at the National Stakeholders Indaba on Zambia's Public Debt organized by the CSO Debt Alliance and partners at Mulungushi  International Conference Centre that among the measures undertaken so far is advocating for the total cancellation of loans attached to the debts aimed at serving money towards debts repayment.
Mushinga explained that the government has also undertaken the debt sustainability analysis to gain credibility ahead of the debt restructuring exercise.
According to Mushinga this exercise require the stamp of authenticity that the IMF is making on the negotiations table for the debt restructuring process.
She said the staff level agreement made with the IMF relates to the consensus between the government and the IMF on the macroeconomic framework which underpins the information on the level of indebtedness the country found itself in.
She said the only complication that came in the way of negotiations was that Zambia was highly indaba and had to bring in the creditors to show that there is a willingness to assist Zambia.
Some of the creditors the IMF was interested in here are the public and the private official creditors who were supposed to give assurance and did just that about a week ago.
She said this was done in conjunction with the IMF after the country provided honest information on the level of indebtedness it has to the outside world.
She said the negotiations process has now been finalized and the IMF will now have to present the data to the board stipulating how much the country needs to come out of the problems.
Currently, Mushinga said, no conditions stipulating what the country needs to do has been made known to the government.
She noted that the only consolation is that the government of Zambia is moving side by side with the IMF giving guidance on what needs to be done to address the challenges.
With the IMF on hand, Mushinga said, the world bank and other helpers will be able to assist Zambia to come out of the debt situation.
She said Zambia's official creditors have given the IMF assurance and what is remaining is an agreement individually from the official creditor to agree on the way forward and ensure that what has been agreed will be done as proposed.
When the IMF board has approved the plan, Mushinga explained, the entire plan stipulating how Zambia will deal with the debt will be made known and the actual restructuring will begin.
She said the period when this process will last is not known because it will be in the hands of the official creditors who by that time an MoU and agreement in principle would have been signed

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