Zambia’s $3 Billion Bond Revamp Deal Raises IMF Reservations
- Campaigners say bondholder agreement is too good a deal
- Zambian bonds due 2027 among worst-performing in EM index
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Zambia’s official creditors and the International Monetary Fund expressed reservations about a deal in principle the government announced last month to restructure $3 billion in eurobonds, the Finance Ministry said. The nation’s bonds and currency plummeted.
The government and the bondholders’ steering committee are continuing discussions, the ministry said in a statement on Friday, without saying what their doubts are. The reservations are likely primarily related to the front-loaded amortization and initial coupon levels of Zambia’s proposed 2035 bond, said Samir Gadio, who covers African financial markets at Standard Chartered Bank.