Full extent of the country’s liabilities may well exceed official figure of $12.7bn as the previous government concealed numbers
Hakainde Hichilema waves at the crowd after taking oath of office at the Heroes Stadium in Lusaka, Zambia, in this August 24 2021 file photo. Picture: GETTY IMAGES/SALIM DAWOOD
Hichilema’s landslide victory in the election last month placed him in control of an economy with a “bigger hole” than he envisaged, having last year become Africa’s first pandemic-era sovereign defaulter. Years of government budget blowouts fuelled by over-borrowing left the state with at least $12.7bn in external debt, according to the most recent official figure.
An accurate picture of the nation’s debt may help remove a roadblock for talks with bondholders. It may also improve chances of a bailout deal with the IMF, a prerequisite for any debt restructuring. Zambia’s $1bn in bonds maturing in 2024 rose 1.6% to 79c on the dollar London on Tuesday, the highest level since March 2019.
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