By Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Switzerland-based Glencore, China and Chad’s other creditors have reached an agreement in principle on a debt treatment plan for the African country that should be finalized in coming days, a source close to the negotiations said on Thursday.
Chad’s bilateral creditors – China, France, India and Saudi Arabia – agreed several weeks ago that the country did not require debt relief at the moment given higher oil prices, but that they would reconvene and offer Chad help if needed.
Glencore , a major private creditor, agreed late in October or early November to join the other creditors in what will be the first debt treatment reached under a framework set up the Group of 20 major economies and the Paris Club in late 2020 to help poor countries weather the COVID pandemic, the source said.
The deal, which should be finalized in coming days, also calls for Chad’s creditors to reprofile Chad’s debt in 2024, the last year of its current Extended Credit Facility (ECF) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to ensure that its debt level remains below the threshold of “moderate risk of debt distress.”
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; additional reporting by Karin Strohecker in London; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
