ZAMBIA GETS IMF BAILOUT

Zambia has won International Monetary Fund board approval for a $1.3 billion support package, an important step toward the nation restructuring its debt and a boost for the global effort to help indebted developing nations.

The 38-month extended credit facility is based on Zambia’s “homegrown economic reform plan that aims to restore macroeconomic stability and foster higher, more resilient, and more inclusive growth,” the Washington-based lender said in a statement on its website Wednesday.

The program will also “catalyze much needed financial support from development partners,” enabling an immediate disbursement equivalent to about $185 million, the fund said.

Africa’s second-biggest copper producer became the continent’s first pandemic-era sovereign defaulter in 2020, and was seeking endorsement from the Washington-based lender as the government tries to finalize negotiations to revamp external liabilities that grew to $17.3 billion by the end of last year. Chinese lenders account for more than one-third of its official dollar debt.

© Bloomberg