AGL 38.50 Increased By ▲ 0.93 (2.48%)
AIRLINK 130.90 Decreased By ▼ -1.60 (-1.21%)
BOP 5.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.71%)
CNERGY 3.86 Increased By ▲ 0.09 (2.39%)
DCL 8.66 Decreased By ▼ -0.21 (-2.37%)
DFML 40.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.20 (-0.49%)
DGKC 88.79 Decreased By ▼ -1.37 (-1.52%)
FCCL 35.25 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (0.48%)
FFBL 66.47 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.05%)
FFL 10.58 Increased By ▲ 0.43 (4.24%)
HUBC 109.20 Increased By ▲ 2.80 (2.63%)
HUMNL 14.66 Increased By ▲ 1.26 (9.4%)
KEL 4.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-2.26%)
KOSM 7.03 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (2.63%)
MLCF 42.50 Increased By ▲ 0.70 (1.67%)
NBP 59.10 Increased By ▲ 0.52 (0.89%)
OGDC 183.95 Increased By ▲ 2.70 (1.49%)
PAEL 25.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-0.39%)
PIBTL 5.90 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (1.2%)
PPL 147.81 Decreased By ▼ -0.59 (-0.4%)
PRL 23.51 Increased By ▲ 0.29 (1.25%)
PTC 16.48 Increased By ▲ 1.24 (8.14%)
SEARL 69.58 Increased By ▲ 0.79 (1.15%)
TELE 7.21 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.41%)
TOMCL 35.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-0.69%)
TPLP 7.82 Increased By ▲ 0.42 (5.68%)
TREET 14.25 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.07%)
TRG 50.51 Decreased By ▼ -0.34 (-0.67%)
UNITY 26.81 Increased By ▲ 0.41 (1.55%)
WTL 1.22 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.83%)
BR100 9,819 Increased By 51.2 (0.52%)
BR30 29,774 Increased By 373.8 (1.27%)
KSE100 92,344 Increased By 406 (0.44%)
KSE30 28,843 Increased By 99.8 (0.35%)

NAIROBI: The International Monetary Fund expects to disburse the next tranche of its $1.3 billion financing program with Zambia “soon”, the managing director of the fund said.

The southern African nation, which was the major sovereign casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic and has been in default since 2020, is seeking to overhaul its debt in a slow process and it secured the IMF funding last August.

“What we are waiting is creditors of Zambia to agree on a path forward… We expect to be able to disburse for Zambia very soon,” Kristalina Georgieva told reporters in the Kenyan capital.

IMF: Zambia needs bilateral debt relief to secure next payout

Zambia sent a debt restructuring proposal to its official creditors last month and Georgieva said they are set to meet next week to consider the proposal.

Ghana and Ethiopia have also sought to restructure their debts and Georgieva said the processes have been delayed by a “cacophony” caused by the diversification of creditors in recent years.

China is the largest bilateral creditor for many African nations including Zambia.

“The Chinese premier and former premier confirmed that Chinese were committed to debt resolution for Zambia when I met them,” Georgieva said.

Some 19 out of 35 sub-Saharan African nations are at or close to the risk of debt distress, Georgieva said, citing the impact of the pandemic, Russia’s war in Ukraine, high interest rates and weaker currencies.

Kenya will not default on its debt: President Ruto

But she ruled out the risk of Kenya slipping into default, despite acute pressure on its finances by rising debt repayment obligations.

“Kenya is definitely not among them,” she said, citing a sustainable debt load and solid hard currency reserves.

Comments

Comments are closed.