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Ghana’s debt restructuring takes another step forward

Ghana’s debt restructuring takes another step forward

GHANA'S long-running debt restructuring took another step towards the finish line after the government said it struck an agreement in principle on a debt rework with holders of some $13 billion of international bonds. Below is a condensed timeline of key events: * February 2022 - Credit ratings agency Moody's downgrades Ghana's credit rating from B3 to Caa1, saying the country had a "very high credit risk", after Fitch cut its Ghana credit rating to B- from B in January. * March 2022 - Ghana's central bank hikes interest rates by a record 250 basis points to 17% in a bid to…
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Ghana’s bondholders to re-engage government next week on debt rework

Ghana’s bondholders to re-engage government next week on debt rework

GHANA and its bondholders will restart talks next week to hash out a debt restructuring deal on $13 billion of international bonds, four sources told Reuters, on the heels of a deal finalised with official creditors earlier this week. Ghana, a gold and cocoa producer, defaulted on most of its $30 billion in external debt in 2022, weighed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and rapid global interest rate hikes that boosted borrowing costs. It had kicked off formal talks with two groups of bondholders in mid-March - a group of Western asset managers and hedge funds and another one…
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Africa Development Bank calls for $25 bln and better terms to avoid ‘lost decade’

Africa Development Bank calls for $25 bln and better terms to avoid ‘lost decade’

AFRICA needs quicker debt restructurings, more favourable lending terms and some $25 billion for the Africa Development Fund to avoid a lost decade, the head of its development bank said. The continent was suffering from "long fiscal COVID" and the world was not doing enough to help it move past the punishing years of the pandemic and global interest rate hikes, which had tipped several countries into default, said Akin Adesina. "The G20 Common Framework, which is the bilateral and multilateral path to do (debt restructuring), must work faster for Africa," Adesina said in a speech on Friday at London's Chatham House,…
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Zambia’s debt restructuring limps over line as painful test case

Zambia’s debt restructuring limps over line as painful test case

MORE than three-and-a-half years, or 1,300 days, after resource-rich Zambia formally declared itself bankrupt it is about to drag itself out of default, leaving some hard lessons for richer nations about how their much-vaunted debt relief plan performed. Tuesday will see its international bondholders vote through their part of a $13.4 billion debt restructuring and make Zambia the first to complete a full-blown rework under the G20-led 'Common Framework' architecture. Hakainde Hichilema, Zambia's president, has described it as a historic moment and the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, has hailed it as an important sign of…
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Ghana seeks to speed up debt restructuring negotiations

Ghana seeks to speed up debt restructuring negotiations

GHANA wants to speed up remaining debt restructuring negotiations, its finance minister said, as the government pushes for a deal to rework over $13 billion of international bonds. The West African country has been overhauling its debts as it tries to emerge from its worst economic crisis in a generation with the help of a $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. The government reached a deal in principle in January to restructure $5.4 billion of loans with official creditors. It has since started formal talks with one bondholder group under non-disclosure agreements, Reuters reported about two weeks ago, citing sources familiar…
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Zambian officials held debt talks with Chinese banks last week

Zambian officials held debt talks with Chinese banks last week

ZAMBIAN officials went to China last week to discuss debt restructuring with representatives of the Export-Import Bank (EXIM) of China and some Chinese commercial banks, the secretary to Zambia's Treasury said. Felix Nkulukusa said Zambia was on course to reach a new agreement after its official creditors, including China EXIM, rejected a preliminary restructuring deal for its Eurobonds in November. Zambia defaulted on its sovereign debt in 2020 and its debt restructuring under the G20's Common Framework process has been beset by delays. Under the framework, debtor countries are meant to agree on comparable restructuring deals with official and commercial…
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US Treasury official discusses cholera outbreak, debt with Zambia minister

US Treasury official discusses cholera outbreak, debt with Zambia minister

THE U.S. Treasury Department's top international official spoke with Zambia's finance minister and discussed Zambia's ongoing debt restructuring and its response to a recent cholera outbreak, the U.S. Treasury Department said. Zambia faces a major cholera outbreak that has killed at least 333 people since October, with over 8,000 cumulative cholera cases during this period, according to the website of the U.S. Embassy in Zambia. U.S. Treasury Under Secretary for International Affairs Jay Shambaugh reiterated the U.S. government's "commitment to partner with Zambia" to end the outbreak when he spoke to Zambian Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane, according to the Treasury…
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Zambia debt rework delaying impede key investments, hitting the ‘most vulnerable’ – FinMin

Zambia debt rework delaying impede key investments, hitting the ‘most vulnerable’ – FinMin

LONG delays in Zambia's debt restructuring have hamstrung much-needed investments, curtailed economic growth, weighed on local financial markets and added to living costs for its people, Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane told Reuters. Zambia defaulted three years ago and is trying to rework its debt under the G20 Common Framework, a programme designed to ensure swift and smooth debt overhauls for low-income nations. But the process has been beset by delays, with Zambia suffering a major setback on Monday when official creditors rejected a preliminary deal agreed between the country and its bondholders to rework $3 billion over objections on whether it offered…
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Zambia, bondholders kick off formal talks on $3 billion debt restructuring, sources say

Zambia, bondholders kick off formal talks on $3 billion debt restructuring, sources say

ZAMBIA'S international bondholders have formally started debt talks with the government this week, according to three sources, a key step to restructure more than $3 billion of overseas bonds. A group of the country's biggest private creditors has entered into a restricted period, which means they temporarily cannot trade the country's notes in exchange for non-public information, the sources added, asking not to be named because the discussions were private. The non-disclosure agreements(NDA) would be still in place next week, one of the sources added when Zambia officials and creditors are set to meet in person during the World Bank…
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Zambia criticises debt restructuring delays – FT

Zambia criticises debt restructuring delays – FT

ZAMBIA'S finance minister criticised the prolonged nature of the country's debt restructuring talks, the Financial Times reported, after a Chinese call for the World Bank and other multilateral lenders to offer debt relief sparked concern about further delays. In an interview with the newspaper, Situmbeko Musokotwane said that "time is of the essence" to finish a restructuring of about $13 billion of external debt this year. Multilateral lenders, who don't usually take haircuts, should participate in debt relief for Zambia, a Chinese foreign ministry official said last month. This insistence was one of the main sticking points in talks, a…
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