Ten of Zambia’s international bondholders have formed a creditor group ahead of what is expected to be a complex restructuring of its debts, they said on Tuesday.
Zambia owes money to four main types of creditor.
It has $3 billion of Eurobonds outstanding and owes $2 billion to commercial banks, $2 billion to the IMF and World Bank and a further $3 billion to China.
The new bondholder committee did not name any of its 10 members but said they were all based in the United States or Europe and in aggregate hold approximately 35% of the total amount of Zambia’s outstanding Eurodollar bonds.
“The Committee has organised to engage with Zambia with regard to its present situation, to facilitate communication among creditors, and to pursue any appropriate actions,” the group said in a statement from advisors Newstate Partners.
It added that it was “in close contact” with other bondholders representing an additional 30% of Zambia’s outstanding Eurobonds and that many of the holders were also significant investors in the Zambian domestic government bond market.
Zambia’s government appointed debt specialists Lazard in May to advise on a foreign-currency debt restructuring.
The government has said that debt totalled $11.3 billion as of the end of 2018.
World Bank data estimates it added up to 45% of Zambia’s gross domestic product (GDP) last year, while its total debt stock was the equivalent to 89% of GDP.
Zambia was earlier this year listed among countries eligible for relief under the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative, which aims to help nations respond to COVID-19 health challenges and economic shocks.
This month it asked the Paris Club of creditor nations to let it suspend principal and interest payments on all its ‘official sector’ debt from May until the end of December.
This nonsense has lasted long enough. The people have a right not to have future policies constrained by this non-democratically accrued ‘debt’.
The bondholders should have known they were lending to an unaccountable government and take their losses.
Don’t worry they are going. Their ballooned assets will pay these recklessly borrowed debts when they are out of power, not my tax
@warlord am equally confused.I cannot seem to get sense from his comment!!
HH and Sinkamba should be invited to that committee meetings. Because most of things HH say makes sense, but of us don’t understand graphs. The Sinkamba is good at understanding huge numbers. $10 billion is huge numbers muleumfwako fye guyz, 10 billion dollars??? And that is in debts.
“The government has said that debt totalled $11.3 billion as of the end of 2018.” Surely government is clueless of the debt stock as at 2019? And this data availed to Lazard? No toWhat a joke! We are in deep waters.
Did clueless jacket in start house not say I will not stop borrowing? I guess he thought this was like kongole in Chawama.
Africa has seen useless presidents Lungu just gets the gold medal
Zambia has no debt crisis. Do u remember that only lst yr from the PF? Wht has changed?
When PF Foooools were eating they were dancing now they shamelessly restructuring debt meaning more costs to the taxpayers as they cant payback monies.
Cancel that debt the lenders knew better.
Where is the News interviews of Mwanakatwe and Chikwanda? They need to be sedated by a good financial journalist. They need to explain on what basis they borrowed this much. Am I reading this wrongly,…is the debt amounting to 89% of GDP previous to covid19?
Where is the News interviews of Mwanakatwe and Chikwanda? They need to be SWEATED by a good financial journalist.
People were advising against debt, Chikwanda and his clue less boss were not listening and saying they were within GDP ratios, and they should not even blame covid because covid is very new. How can a country surely fail to respond to an emergency, failing to pay 27 million dollars only for power from Eskom was shameful. Which normal country in the world can fail to raise 27 million dollars, 27 million dollars for a country must be loose change.
Hehehehe…..
Tamulati……..you an’t seen nothing yet.
I was called a hater right from the beginning when I warned you about lungu.
Things can only get worse with lungu. Lungu has no clue, that is why he relies on PF violence and intimidation.
Don’t even blame chikwanda or mwanakatwe , the rot is under lungus watch and will get worse.
Zambia is condemned to the next 20 to 30 years of debt bondage , long after those roads rot away….
Nothing unusual all companies and organisations of people have meetings almost every day world wide. Even us as government meet to plan and restructure certain elements of finance and governance. Part and parcel especially so with the effects of covid. People are having to take new approaches to doing business.
When were you appointed spokesperson especially with your poor record of everything?
Lungu is the greatest insult upon zambia, all of pf are boot lickers for their half with master valden Findlay.
Zambians have you enough or do you want more by voting for PF.
Pf must go or zambia dies
I don’t even argue with these PF chaps, I just show them the economic stats. Negative all over. Exchange rate, reserves, inflation, So why did we remove MMD ayini? because we are just worse off now, they are now blaming Covid which is very recent. They blamed HH, they tried climate change, now they are blaming covid, next it will be the youths to blame. The journey will surely take place – Ulendo ulipo
There is no cause to worry the fact that investors have what we call Collective ACTION is a good thing and shows that Zambian bonds have some value The Collective ACTION is meant in SDRM for creditors to have their value and rights represented at debt restructuring These rights could been documented in those covenants
Now if debt relief is granted please noti ifyakubomba mu mabala yesu.
Ubwafya tukwete bane, if debt relief is granted, who will supervise them?
You were given debt relief already , the logic and sentiment will be
” no amount of debt relief will help, they will only get back into debt ”
There is no apitite for wholesale set relief
Ubupuba no bushilu by ZK , buse ulichinkula naweno obe
Zambians were not consulted in the accruing of this debt, PF crooks should pay back the kaloba!