By Andrea Shalal
(Reuters) – Chad’s official creditor committee will meet this week amid growing pressure from the International Monetary Fund and others for progress on the country’s request for debt restructuring, two sources briefed on the matter said.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told Reuters the key issue was coming to agreement with Chad’s main private creditor Glencore on the country’s debt restructuring needs, given a jump this year in the price of oil, a key revenue generator for it.
Chad in January 2021 become the first country to request a restructuring of its $3 billion external debt under the Common Framework agreed by the Group of 20 major economies and the Paris Club of official creditors.
It struck a deal with creditor nations in June 2021, but has struggled to finalise talks with private creditors.
The country owes one third of its external debt burden to commercial creditors, and almost all of that to Glencore in oil-for-cash deals dating back to 2013 and 2014.
“The issue there really is to settle on, what exactly is the debt restructuring need, and, frankly, to get Glencore to move. We need them to step forward,” Georgieva said.
A Glencore spokesperson said by email: “We continue to engage with all stakeholders and look forward to a positive outcome soon.”
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Additional Reporting by Rachel Savage in London; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Jan Harvey)
