APA-Lusaka (Zambia) Zambia is set to save about US$5.8 billion in interest rates and other payments over the next 20 years following a landmark debt restructuring deal reached by the country and its official creditors last week, Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said late Tuesday.
The southern African country last week struck a deal to restructure US$6.3 billion in debt owed to foreign governments.
The agreement, reached at a summit in Paris on June 23, rescheduled Zambia’s debt over more than 20 years, with a three-year grace period during which only payments on interest are due.
Musokotwane told parliament that the southern African country would now be required to pay its official creditors just US$750 million over the next decade instead of about US$6.3 billion that it was supposed to repay over the same period under the previous contractual arrangements.
He said the debt service savings would release resources that could be used for Zambia’s developmental programmes as well as unlock further funding from cooperating partners such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
Zambia would be able to receive a US$188.8 million tranche of money from the IMF in September, part of a US$1.3 billion global package.
The country is also expected to receive financial aid amounting to US$75 million from the World Bank.
JN/APA