The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva welcomed the progress made in restoring debt sustainability globally, citing Zambia and Chad, at a meeting of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in India.
Georgieva said the recent agreement on Zambia’s debt restructuring was a significant milestone for the G20 Common Framework, building on earlier steps to address Chad’s debt.
However, she said “the debt restructuring process still needs to be speedier and more effective,” an IMF statement quoting Georgieva’s speech on Tuesday in Gandhinagar in the western Indian state of Gujarat said.
“The costs of delays in reaching agreement on needed debt treatments are borne acutely by borrower countries and their people, who are least able to bear this burden.”
Zambia last month reached an agreement to restructure $6.3 billion in debt owing to other governments, notably China, marking a long-awaited milestone for impoverished countries throughout the world who have faced protracted negotiations with creditors.
Zambia became the first African country to default on its sovereign debt during the COVID-19 crisis in 2020.
The southern African country and the IMF began the process with a staff-level agreement on an external loan facility to restore macroeconomic stability following the election of President Hakainde Hichilema in August 2021.
Source : Zawya