Zambia borrowed $134 million from Standard Chartered Plc to help fund the road sector, according to a finance ministry official.
The borrowing plan was included in the 2017 budget, Mukuli Chikuba, permanent secretary at the finance ministry, said in a text message on Tuesday.
The loan is the second that Standard Chartered has arranged for the government since a $450 million syndicated loan in the first half of 2016.
Five new loans worth $296 million were contracted in the first half of the year, according to the ministry’s mid-year economic review.
The country’s external debt grew to $7.4 billion by the end of June, the report shows.
Zambia, Africa’s second-biggest copper producer, is in talks to secure a $1.3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund and plans to present an economic program to the lender’s board by year-end.
Bloomberg
That’s less than 50 kilometers.
Chitotela must be laughing off. What’s that amount compared to $1 billion?
SCBZ should not be surprised if a new govt will refuse to repay such loans? Why should govt borrow commercial loans (expect 12-14% on a dollar loan in Zambia) on projects that do not directly bring in cash? Such projects should be financed from concessionary funds, not commercial loans. I suppose PF crooks don’t care when they are stealing the money and spraying thin layers of bitumen on gravel.
What happened to the bond?
PF has taken us back to HIPC
THe national debt keeps raising …I wonder at what interest rates…you wonder why you even pay road tax and toll gate fees!!
Borrow, borrow, borrow and then steal, steal steal??
Again at what interest rate and time ??
Where has bond money gone? What about taxes? Bushe am I the only one who thinks things are not going okay. Really where is the money going? Nafulwa
Kwena nibu HIPC ubu!
Standard Chartered Bank can afford to loan all those dollars to the government and yet some retirees are battling for their money 14 years now the issue is still in courts of law. Some have died and left their money. What a heartless bank. Give the retirees their money Please
Thats why its called a bank!!
Which Projects specifically?