By Ellen Hambuba
Zambia has signed an amended debt agreement with AVIC International Project Engineering Company, marking further progress in the country’s external debt restructuring process under the G20 Common Framework.
The agreement, signed on January 13 this year, relates to financing for the Lusaka Urban Roads Programme under the L400 Phase Two and Phase Three projects.
Between 2017 and 2018, Government contracted loans amounting to more than 72 million United States dollars to support the construction and rehabilitation of selected urban roads in Lusaka.
Following a transfer by the original lenders, AVIC International, which also served as the project contractor, assumed the outstanding debt.
This has since been consolidated into a 56.3 million United States dollar Debt Restructuring Agreement, making it the first amendment concluded between Zambia and AVIC under the restructuring framework.
The Ministry of Finance says the agreement will be implemented in phases as part of a sequenced plan to address outstanding obligations in an orderly manner.
This is according to a statement issued by the Office of the Secretary to the Treasury in the Ministry of Finance and National Planning.
