By BUUMBA CHIMBULUFITCH Ratings has indicated that it will move Zambia’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating once a debt exchange is agreed and relations are normalised with international creditors.The rating agency has however acknowledged that the staff-level agreement between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Zambia’s government on an extended credit facility (ECF) marks an important step forward in the country’s debt-restructuring process.According to the rating agency, Zambia’s default was the result of long-term fiscal trends and several years of external debt accumulation.It anticipated that weaknesses in public financial management were likely to remain despite signs of willingness to undertake fiscal reform.“Fitch views the shift in the government’s focus to debt sustainability and macroeconomic stability under the new administration as credit positive.“However, we would only look to move Zambia’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating out of ‘RD’ once a debt exchange is agreed and relations are normalised with international creditors,” it stated in a statement.It […]
Fitch to improve Zambia’s default rating
