After failing to make an interest payment on a Eurobond which was due on Friday — making it Africa’s first economy to default during the coronavirus pandemic, Zambia’s central bank governor Christopher Mvunga said from Lusaka that the debt-ridden country last week could have paid $42.5 million towards its Eurobond liabilities.
Mvunga said that Finance Minister Bwalya Ngandu was engaging all creditors to negotiate the rescheduling of debt repayment.
The government in September requested a six-month deferral on interest payments for three commercial Eurobonds worth 3 billion USD. However, it missed the 40 million USD interest payment due on one bond on October 14 which prompted ratings agency S&P to declare the country in default.
The grace period which ended Friday was for payment on a 750 million USD Eurobond due to expire in 2022.
In spite of having the African continent’s second-largest copper deposits, Zambia’s external debt has surged to nearly 12 billion USD this year.
