The International Monetary Fund has reached a staff-level agreement with Zambia on the second review of its Extended Credit Facility, unlocking another $184 million upon IMF board approval, the Fund said on Monday.
The IMF’s mission chief for Zambia added in a statement that the Fund welcomed Zambia’s memorandum of understanding with its official creditors and ongoing discussions with private creditors to reach an agreement on debt restructuring.
She said Zambia may need to further tighten monetary policy to contain inflationary pressures and that building reserves would enhance the southern African country’s external resilience.
Earlier on Monday, Zambia suffered a major setback in its debt-restructuring efforts after the government said a revised deal to rework $3 billion of Eurobonds could not be implemented at this time due to objections from official creditors, including China.
