LUSAKA – Zambia’s government said on Monday that it had reached a debt restructuring agreement with a group of private creditors on restructuring $3 billion of its international bonds, bringing the country closer to emerging from its long delayed debt rework.
The latest deal proposes restructuring the country’s three existing instruments into two amortising bonds, one of which would deliver higher repayments if the country’s economic outlook and capability of dealing with its debt burden improves.
The proposal is in structure much like a preliminary deal that was reached late last year, but then derailed after being rejected by official creditors, which include China, India and France.
The government will ensure that “certain other creditors do not receive a better recovery in the restructuring on net present value terms” and also a loss reinstatement clause if Zambia were to default during the term of the existing International Monetary Fund programme, the statement added.
Source: Reuters
