Zambia to stop contracting external debt in 2021 – minister

Zambia’s finance minister on Friday, September 25, said the country would not take on new external commercial loans in 2021 and limit existing projects in a bid to reduce spiraling debt.

The mineral-rich southern African country’s public debt increased by 4.3% in the first 6 months of 2020, reaching $11.97 billion (10.3 billion euros) in June.

That debt already represented around 80% of gross domestic product by the end of 2019, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB). 

“Government remains committed to restoring public debt sustainability and has embarked on a number of initiatives to achieve this objective,” Finance Minister Bwalya Ng’andu announced in a 2021 budget presentation.

“These include cancellation, postponement, and rescoping of projects. Further contraction of new commercial external debt has been stopped,” he added.

Ng’andu said $1.1 billion (947 million euros) in pending loans had been canceled and another $280 million (241 million euros) saved through project changes.

He reiterated that the government plans to apply for a G20 initiative to suspend debt servicing and said similar relief was being sought from external commercial creditors.

Earlier this week, government asked for a 6-month debt repayment holiday on 3 Eurobonds due to the economic impact of coronavirus restrictions.

As Africa’s second largest copper producer, Zambia has also been hit by a global decline in metal prices.

Its mining revenue dropped nearly a third between February and April 2020 due to the pandemic.

Global giant Glencore – one of Zambia’s largest miners – announced earlier this year that it would cut capital expenditure by as much as a quarter during 2020 due to disruption to supply chains caused by the coronavirus and falling commodity prices.

The government has since proposed to up its 10% shareholding in Glencore subsidiary Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) to save jobs. 

Ng’andu said the government had “offered to acquire additional shares” in MCM and “terms of purchase” were being negotiated with Glencore.

Zambia has previously defaulted on loans acquired for several construction projects, including Chinese-funded ones, resulting in some being suspended or abandoned. – Rappler.com