The finance minister of Zambia, Situmbeko Musokotwan, condemned the prolonged nature of the nation’s debt restructuring talks following a Chinese call for the World Bank and many other multilateral lenders to provide debt relief sparked concern regarding further delays, said the sources on February 13.
Musokotwane, in a statement, said that time is of the essence to complete a restructuring of around US$13 billion of external debt in 2023. International lenders, who usually don’t take haircuts, must take part in debt relied on for Zambia, an official of the Chinese foreign ministry said in January.
Meanwhile, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin, said that China has always adhered huge significance to the Zambian debt issue. He added that the common framework of the Group of 20 had played a huge role in dealing with Zambia’s debt.
The People’s Bank of China, along with the Ministry of Finance, did not respond to a source’s request to comment on the issue. Moreover, Zambia became the first African nation to default in 2020 after the onset of COVID-19. Still, restructuring its external debts of almost USD15 billion with creditors, including Eurobond and China holders, has been delayed greatly.
The government data demonstrated that Zambia owed Chinese creditors around US$6 billion of the total US$17 billion external debt at the end of last year. Janet Yellen – the US Treasury Secretary, and other Groups of seven nations have risen increasingly frustrated about what they witness as foot-dragging by China in moving along on debt rescheduling for nations seeking help.
The finance ministry of Zambia added that the country was in no position to reject any proposals between World Bank and China, adding that it hopes for a successful debt restructuring early in 2023.
The statement further added that Zambia stays appreciative of the primary effort being asked of all of Zambia’s creditors and especially the Chinese creditors.
