Economics
Greece's Secret Debt Evoked in Mozambique $1 Billion Hole
- Debt disclosed less than two weeks after tuna-bond swap
- Deals complied with international law, lender VTB says
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For some Africa watchers, Mozambique’s confession of a $1 billion debt hole seems strangely reminiscent of another country -- one that’s also in contentious talks with the International Monetary Fund.
The predicament reminds analysts including Rand Merchant Bank’s Nema Ramkhelawan-Bhana of Greece’s concealment of its true fiscal dilemma in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The IMF said last week that Mozambique failed to disclose government-guaranteed loans provided by Credit Suisse Group AG and VTB Capital Plc, sending the southern African country’s bond yields surging.