LUSAKA, Jan 23 (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday on a visit to Zambia it was critically important to restructure its debt, and she believes progress could be made after her frank talks last week with China, which is owed almost $6 billion by Lusaka.
Yellen added that Zambia’s debt overhang was a drag on its whole economy and that China had been a barrier to resolving the southern African country’s debt problem – government data showed Zambia’s total external debt at $17 billion at the end of 2021.
However, Yellen said she was encouraged that progress could shortly become possible following her meeting with Chinese officials in Zurich last week.
“I specifically raised the issue with Zambia (with Chinese offic…
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