(4 minutes read)
· Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok is committed to repay US $60 billion foreign debt this year by securing reliefs from various sources including Paris Club and by of channelizing more investments
· The much needed flow of investments into the country, he expects, will come during the upcoming Paris conference, scheduled shortly
· Abdalla Hamdok said the country has settled the World Bank arrears, those of the African Development Bank, and would be soon settling the International Monetary Fund arrears
Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok is committed to repay US $60 billion foreign debt this year by securing reliefs from various sources including Paris Club and by channelizing more investments. The much needed flow of investments into the country, he expects, will come during the upcoming Paris conference, scheduled shortly.
Abdalla Hamdok was a well known UN economist-turned-premier. He took office as the head of a transitional government shortly after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir in 2019, whose three-decade rule was marked by economic hardships, civil disturbances and sanctions imposed by international entities. In the past two years, Hamdok and his government have pushed to rebuild the crippled economy and end Sudan’s international isolation.
Abdalla Hamdok said the country has settled the World Bank arrears, those of the African Development Bank, and would be soon settling the International Monetary Fund arrears. The arrears to the African Development Bank were cleared by availing a bridge loan worth US$425 million from Sweden, Britain and Ireland. Debts to the World Bank were paid off with a US$1.1 billion bridge loan from the US. The country has taken huge loans from the Paris Club. Sudan would be negotiating with members of the Paris Club for availing reliefs for its debt to the members of the Club a whopping US$ 60 billion. It is hoping to get a relief of 38% of its huge debt.
Hamdok will be attending next Monday’s Paris conference. French President Emmanuel Macron, and World Bank and IMF representatives are also scheduled to attend the meeting. Sudan has readied a strategy to invite investments into sectors like the energy, infrastructure, agriculture and telecommunications sectors.
