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IMF chief, Kristalina Georgieva, wants speedy debt restructuring deals for Chad, Zambia

Published

2 years ago

October 11, 2022

As the debt crisis continues to grow with most African countries, a senior official of the International Monetary Fund, IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, wants debt restructuring arrangements for Zambia and Chad completed shortly.

The IMF Managing Director on Monday said she hoped could be completed by the end of the year, which would pave the way for more countries to seek help.

Georgieva made the position known while speaking with civil society groups at the start of the annual IMF and World Bank meeting.

She said a Group of 20 initiative launched in late 2020 had been slow to become operational, but she was upbeat about the cases of Chad and Zambia, who together with Ethiopia was the first to request help.

Zambia opted to bow out of a $42.5 million Eurobond repayment in 2020 and is seeking $8.4 billion of debt relief from 2022 to 2025.

It was the first African country to default during the COVID-19 era as it struggled with debt that reached 133% of GDP at the end of 2021.

IMF spokesperson, Gerry Rice in July revealed that Chad has sought to access the G20’s common framework. But to benefit from the initiative which supports low-Income Countries with unsustainable debt, Chad needs a debt agreement among creditors.

Many African countries depend on international creditors to fund critical aspects of their economies.

VenturesNow

IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

3 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.