Chinese creditors have granted Angola a three-year debt relief, enabling the country to get more than $700 million in its next tranche of IMF (International Monetary Fund) financing in the coming days, its finance minister said on Monday. The $700 million forms part of a $3.7 billion programme under the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility approved in December 2018.
According to the country’s finance minister, Angola has been seeking payment relief as it strives to overcome the hit from the coronavirus pandemic, heavy debt service requirements, and volatility in the oil sector.
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According to analysts’ calculations, Angola owes more than $20 billion to a number of Chinese entities. This includes $14.5 billion to the China Development Bank and close to $5 billion to the Export-Import Bank of China. It has also borrowed from ICBC, China’s largest lender.
The IMF’s executive board will meet on Monday to decide on the latest review of the country’s programme with the Fund. Angola has so far received about $2.5 billion from the IMF as part of its largest funding programme in sub-Saharan Africa.
The country’s is also part of the G20 group’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), which since April has helped 46 countries defer $5.7 billion in 2020 debt-service payments. That initiative was recently extended until the end of June.
In 2019, the country received $3.7 billion in loans from the IMF with the debt-to-GDP above 100%, and debt repayment eating $9 billion annually.
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