The Zambian government is talking to its bondholders about postponing Eurobond payments due to the ongoing debt restructuring.

The first Eurobond, worth 750 million US dollars, is due this month, and according to Mukuli Chikuba, the permanent secretary in charge of budget and economic affairs in the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, the government will not make any payment.

Mr Chikuba stated that payments will not be made until new terms are agreed upon between the government and the bondholders during a press conference on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program.

According to him, the government intended to get back in touch with the bondholders to make sure that the payment dates were postponed until the nation’s debt restructuring process was complete.

He said the government wanted to make sure that all creditors were treated equally.

Between 2012 and 2015, Zambia issued three Eurobonds: the first was for 750 million dollars in 2012, the second was for 1 billion dollars in 2014, and the third was for 1.25 billion dollars in 2015.

The first Eurobond was scheduled to mature in September 2022, and the government was expected to settle the second and third bonds in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

Last week, the IMF approved a new, 1.3 billion dollar extended credit facility agreement for Zambia, clearing the way for the southern African country to start working with individual creditors on a debt restructuring plan to address the country’s debt crisis.