FILE PHOTO: Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in Berlin, Germany, February 14, 2020. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/File Photo
France said on Monday (May 17) it would provide Sudan with a $1.5 billion bridge loan to pay off its arrears to the International Monetary Fund, a move that should pave the way for wider relief on the African nation’s external debt of at least $50 billion.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the loan would be confirmed by President Emmanuel Macron at a summit in Paris at which Sudan hopes to entice investors to rebuild its battered economy.
IMF members would still need to pledge to cover the arrears in order for the IMF to pay back the bridge loan. These pledges are expected to be made later on Monday and would help broader economic reform efforts in Sudan, Macron said.
Sudan is emerging from decades of economic sanctions and isolation under former President Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted by the military in April 2019 after an uprising.
A transitional government appointed under a military-civilian power-sharing deal is trying to pull the country out of a deep economic crisis with inflation at over 300% and shortages of basic goods.
Sudan built up huge arrears on its debt but has made rapid progress towards having much of it forgiven under the IMF and World Bank’s Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) scheme, allowing Sudan access to cheaper international financing.
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