Chinese banks have granted Angola an extension of the debt service moratorium, the Chinese ambassador to the African country said.
Ambassador Gong Tao (pictured above) said that the main Chinese financial institutions, such as China Development Bank (CBD), Commercial and Industrial Bank of China (ICBC), Bank of China and Export-Import Bank of China (Eximbank), have been “reacting in a very active way”, making concrete efforts regarding the service the Angolan debt, offering solutions such as moratoriums.
“Last year, the main Chinese creditors were able to maintain dialogue and negotiations with the Angolan authorities to reach a moratorium agreement on debt service,” he stressed, without mentioning figures. “As far as I know, for the current year, according to the agreements reached in the framework of the DSSI initiative, Eximbank is still holding negotiations with the Angolan side for an agreement on a new moratorium package”, Gong added.
Angola Asks For Extension of Debt Service Moratorium Until End-2021
“As a member of the G20 and main creditor of some African countries, China attaches great importance to the work of implementing the DSSI (Debt Service Suspension Initiative) and was the first country to participate in and support the extension of the debt service moratorium period. debt service, including that of African countries”, declared Gong Tao.
According to National Bank of Angola data, bilateral debt stood at the end of last year at USD 5,8 billion.
Last year, the Angolan Finance Minister, Vera Daves, announced that the renegotiation of the Angolan debt, inside and outside the G20, would save USD 6 billion by 2023.
